Burning Bright
by Jeck and Raxsah Inc
Summary: When Max and Vanessa entered Hogwarts, they never thought school would be filled with so much trouble. Between magic, love and friendship, they find themselves learning more than they expected. M for a reason, folks. Draco/OC/Harry Hermione/OC Ron/OC
1. Somewhere I Belong

Raxsah:

_Holy Crap! A new story? And Harry Potter at that? Jeez! We're crazy.  
__**Jeck:** CRAZY AWESOME!  
__**Raxsah: **__However, this story will not be like our other ones. It will be a bit shorter-ish, and the chapters will be way longer! In fact, you might want to make sure you read this when you have a butt-load of free time. And if the chapters are too long, let us know so we can make them shorter. But we're trying to be consistent. Then again, it's Harry Potter. Who doesn't want a butt load of Harry potter?  
__**Jeck: **__Honestly, I wanted to make them longer. But Raxsah pointed out that we (and our readers) have short attention spans. Therefore, posting year by year wouldn't be a good idea.  
__**Raxsah: **__Truth. Anyway, we have a new story. Sorry the old one didn't work out, we honestly just kinda… came across a bitch of a writers block and couldn't write it. This one, however, seems to just be flowing out of our fingers. Though we're more excited for the older years. The first three are the innocent-ish years.  
__**Jeck: **__We've got a nice plan for the fourth year. The kids officially grow up. As for our last story, we'll probably come back to it one day. But for now, we've got the Harry Potter goodness. :D  
__**Raxsah: **__Yes, so we hope you like this one. We only have two, erm… three new characters to introduce, however, we keep forgetting about poor Becky… I don't expect to really use her until fourth year anyway.  
__**Jeck: **__We throw Becky in there every once in awhile. She is just a minor character anyway. I hope people enjoy our two new characters as much as I do!  
__**Raxsah: **__And please be nice to our Slytherin, she's Slytherin for a reason. I think that's all. Except for the fact that we don't own anything from Harry Potter… though we'd be pretty damn rich if we did.  
__**Jeck: **__I wish. Honestly, if I had a time machine, I'd go back in time and kidnap J.K. Rowling. And then I would publish the Harry Potter series! :D And kill Stephenie Meyer.  
__**Raxsah: **__That's a bit drastic. Please don't piss of the twi-tards. Seriously, they're freaking scary. I'll fight along side you against a fucking mob or zombies, but the twi-tards. No way, I'll visit your ass in the hospital though.  
__**Jeck: **__Good to know your loyalities, buddy.  
__**Raxsah: **__Hey, give me some credit. Even you know those guys are scary. That's why we avoid them by all means possible.  
__**Jeck: **__I offend black people in college. I told a girl that she was the result of her mother chickening out halfway through an abortion. You think I'm scared of some douches who are obsessed with a guy who doesn't even like his own character?  
__**Raxsah: **__I am, those people be crazy. Anyway! This is our story, and it has nothing to do with Twilight, well… we might throw a hit or two at Cedric during fourth year, but come on! Can you blame us?  
__**Jeck: **__I blame Rob. Stupid Rob. ANYWAY, ENJOY!_

_**

* * *

**_

Year One

**Chapter 1: Somewhere I Belong**

* * *

The sound of his cart echoed through the large train station, while the small animal in it's cage lightly pawed at the bars. He watched as his parents lead him through the crowds of muggles. He tried to stop his staring as he noticed how strangely they went about. Though he lived in a semi-muggle inhabited neighborhood, he barely spent time around them. Most of the time his parents sent him to another magical family before they let him play in the neighborhood.

"Maximilian, keep up now sweetie. You don't want to be late, do you?" His mother called, her blue eyes meeting her son's matching blue hues.

"No mum, I'm coming!" he called, pushing his cart a little faster. He needed to stop getting distracted by all these strange muggles.

"Oh, let the boy look, Nicole. They are quite interesting, you have to admit," his father said.

"Still, we promised Daniel and Anna that we would meet them before our children left. You know how they get when things don't go as scheduled," Nicole reminded her husband. He nodded and placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Well, here we are. Just run through that wall, we'll follow you right through," he told Max. Max frowned as he realized where his parents were pointing, suddenly feeling like this was not such a good idea.

"In the middle of platforms nine and ten?" he asked, just to be sure he was hearing his father right.

"Yes, I know it seems a little strange, just trust us," his mother assured him. Max took a look at both his parents, both sporting different shades of brown hair, and his father peering at him with his warm hazel eyes.

"Okay," he said finally. He quickly turned back to the wall and gripped his cart, in anticipation.

"Best start with a little jog," His father instructed. Max nodded and began to jog, closing his eyes last minute as he expected the sudden crash of his cart. When none came, he opened his eyes to see that in front of him was a train platform holding a train unlike any he had ever seen. It was nothing like the muggle trains he had seen before; this one seemed to hold a different presence to it. As if it were special somehow, and truly, it was. His parents spoke frequently of their own experience on the very same train and their years attending one of the mostly highly regarded schools in the whole wizarding word. He saw his parents appear next to him and gently coach him over to the side where he was a bunch of people, witches and wizards alike, running around frantically. Some were trying to find friends, while others were just looking lost.

"Oh, I found them. Anastasia, Daniel!" Nicole called. Max looked over and saw a small family of three walk over to them. His eyes caught sight of a familiar redhead and he smiled as she walked up to him, her own cart in tow.

"Hi Nessa!" he said excitedly. She smiled and moved away from her parents to hug him.

"Hello Max! I didn't know if you were going to make it," she confessed.

"I thought you were kidding about the wall," he admitted. When she told him that he had to run through a wall to get to the Hogwarts Express, he immediately thought she might have been playing one of her usual tricks on him. She was known to pull a few nasty pranks on a couple of the neighborhood kids, and though she had gone easy on Max, he knew better than to underestimate her.

"Vanessa, where are your manners?" Anastasia scolded. Vanessa rolled her eyes, but smiled at Max's parents.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman. It's good to see you again," she replied sweetly.

"It's good to see you too, sweetie. Now you two better hurry along onto the train. It's very punctual, you know," Nicole instructed. Max nodded and leaned up to give his mother a kiss on the cheek.

"We're going, we're going," he mumbled. Nicole smiled as she placed a kiss on her son's forehead.

"Be good because I will not hesitate to send you a howler if I hear you're getting into trouble," Nicole warned him. Max's father stepped up behind him and ruffled his son's medium length brown hair.

"That would be your mother's way of saying be good. Take care, sport," he said. Max smiled up at his father.

"Of course I will!" He said with a grin, showing off his pearly white teeth.

"Come on, Charles. We'd better let them get going," Nicole said as she pulled on her husband's arm, trying to hold back her tears.

"What's wrong, mum?" Max asked, generally concerned for his mother as he noticed her eyes watering up.

"My little boy is all grown up!" Nicole said, unable to hold back her tears any longer. She buried her face in Charles shoulder while Vanessa chuckled. Max turned to glare at her.

"Shut up." Before Vanessa could reply, her own mother pulled her aside.

"Now honey, did you think we were going to let you go without our own goodbyes?" Anna asked her daughter. Vanessa sighed and rolled her pale green eyes that she obviously received from her mother's side of the family. She really wished she could have gotten her father's dark warm chocolate brown eyes, but fate was not on her side when she was born. However, she wouldn't have traded the Cook's dark red hair for anything in the world.

"No, of course not mum." She quickly hugged her mother and placed a quick kiss on her cheek before turning to her father.

"By daddy," she said, using the endearment she had used since she was a child. He smiled as he kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly.

"Be good, and let us known what house you're in after the sorting." He pulled away and looked at his only child. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Of course!" He ruffled her hair a bit before standing up straight and looking towards his wife.

"Come on, let's go before we stay too long," he said. Fortunately, her parents did not make as much of a scene as Max's did, but she did see a small trace of a tear in her mother's eyes.

"Bye mum, bye daddy!" she said, waving before pushing her cart toward the train. Max was right behind her, raising an eyebrow.

"Daddy?" he asked. She stuck her tongue out at him and chuckled.

"Don't judge." Max said nothing as he watched as a man came over and began to take his things off the cart.

"Bye Mask," Max said as he scratched his white cat through her change. Mask purred in return, her big eyes starring back at him through the black spots on her face. Vanessa leaned in to say good-bye to her own cat.

"Be good, Kitty," she said, kissing her cat through the cage.

"Shall we?" Max asked as they grabbed their carry on bags.

"We shall," Vanessa replied. The man reminded them to make sure they had their robes ready on the train.

"Did you hear? Harry Potter is going to school with us," Max asked as they boarded the train. Vanessa could not help the smile upon her face. Harry Potter was legend in the wizarding world. She had always wanted to meet the boy who destroyed the dark lord, even going so far as to admire him.

"Really? Wow… I can't believe our luck!" she squealed, causing a couple of fourth years to look at her funny. Max began to lead the way down the train, stopping when he accidentally knocked into someone.

"Oh, sorry," he said. The boy looked over, fixing his glasses ever so slightly.

"It's fine, I'm sorry. I was distracted… it looked like someone was trying to catch a brown frog," he explained, his green eyes looking back into the compartment.

"You mean the chocolate frog?" Max asked. Vanessa followed their gaze and scrunched her nose.

"I hate it when they get away. Spent five minutes trying to catch one of those buggers," she confessed.

"Chocolate frogs?" the boy asked, looking back at them. Max looked over his attire. Judging by the ragged look his clothes had, he guessed he was from a poor family, and by his lack of knowledge, he was probably muggle born.

"New to the magical world?" Max asked. The boy nodded, his broken glasses sliding down his nose ever so slightly.

"Very new…" he confessed.

"Oh, well, I'm Max." He shook the boys hand and tried to give him a comforting smile. Vanessa didn't even give him that, not really bothering to give him the time of day.

"I'm Vanessa, you're a muggle born?" she asked, genuinely curious. She wasn't allowed to associate with muggles or 'mudbloods' as he parents called them. Though she didn't know why.

"Um… not exactly… I'm Harry, Harry Potter. Are you first years too?" he asked. Vanessa felt her heart skip a beat when he mentioned his name. Harry Potter! Suddenly, the ragged looking boy was a lot more interesting.

"Blimey, the Harry Potter? We were just talking about how wicked awesome it was to be in the same year as you!" Max said, excited to meet the famous wizard. Harry blinked, not understanding Max's admiration.

"Oh, um, thanks. Well, it was nice to meet the two of you," he said before almost darting off down the rest of the train. Max turned to Vanessa who stood frozen in the spot.

"You okay there? Earth to Nessa, requesting permission to tease," Max said, waving his hand in front of her face. Vanessa jolted out of her daze and glared at her best friend.

"Shut up! Do you realize who we just met?" She said in an excited tone. Max rolled his eyes as they continued down the train.

"Well yeah, Harry Potter. Your secret crush," he said nonchalantly. Vanessa immediately slapped him upside the back of the head, glaring at him.

"Shut up!" She hissed, looking around to see if Harry was still around. Max watched her and chuckled.

"What's the big deal?" He asked. Vanessa scoffed as if it was the stupidest question in the world.

"Dude, he's famous and good looking!" She explained. Max shrugged.

"He kind of looks a mess. And he's obviously clueless about our world," he pointed out. Vanessa just grabbed his arm and dragged him into the first empty compartment they could find.

"It makes him level headed. And he's a hot mess," she explained, shoving her bag of robes away into the overhead compartment. Max mimicked her actions before taking a seat.

"I will never understand girls," he mumbled. Vanessa just smiled.

"That's because your simple mind can't process the complexity of it," she told him. Max raised an eyebrow, clearly not understanding her words. She might have only been eleven, but sometimes she spoke as if she were far older.

"Huh?"

"Nevermind."

* * *

"Seriously Vanessa, don't worry about it," Max said, trying to tie his tie for the ninth time. He knew his dad taught him how, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember.

"I can't just walk in with my hair looking a mess. I know a brought a brush somewhere," she said, bending over to look under the seat. Max looked over and blushed ever so slightly as he realized that his friend was going to have to get used to wearing a skirt like that. It wasn't that he had an attraction to her, but he was slowly starting to realize how much of a girl she really was these days.

"Nice panties," Max commented. Vanessa shot up and shot her best friend a glare, her pale green eyes meeting his blue.

"Shut up. Now I have to wear my hair in a braid. Fantastic," she mumbled, quickly tying her hair back in a French braid.

"Vanessa, come on, we're pulling into the station. I don't want to leave without you. Here is your hair tie," he said, before she could ask. He quickly shoved everything in his bag before waiting for his best friend. She seemed to be looking around the compartment, probably still looking for her brush. One thing they definitely had in common, they were both messy. Though, Vanessa still tended to loose things more than he did.

"Where would I be without you? Gosh, I hope we're in the same house. If not, I might just bloody loose my mind," she confessed.

"Well, cross your fingers," he mumbled. Vanessa nodded and stepped out of the cart, being careful not to run into anyone. She quickly made her way so she was standing behind a girl her own age with frizzy brown hair. She seemed to examine everything about the area the moment she stepped off the train, but instead of the wonderment most first years had she seemed to be analyzing everything.

"It's bigger than I imagined," she said, probably to herself. Vanessa raised an eyebrow, but continued to walk with Max to where someone was calling the first years.

"All first years this way!" he called. Vanessa and Max both looked upon the big man in shock. No way was he a giant, but he looked pretty close.

"Wow…" Max mumbled.

"Dude… is he like… the guard to the school?" she asked.

"I think he's the groundskeeper," Max mumbled. They followed the man who called himself Hagrid to the lake, where a bunch of boats were situated.

"I call front!" Vanessa said, jumping into one before anyone else.

"You always get front," Max pointed out, getting in behind her. She just smiled sweetly at him and waited for the rest of the group to leave toward the castle. Max looked around the boat to see a blonde haired girl absentmindedly twiddling her thumbs.

"Hey, are you new too?" He asked, turning to face the girl. Vanessa turned around to see the blonde haired girl too.

"Oh course she's knew, idiot. We're all first years here," Vanessa snapped. Max glared at her.

"Shut up, I'm making conversation!" He replied. The blonde hair girl watched the display before her and chuckled.

"Are you two related?" She asked sweetly. Vanessa shook her head.

"Oh no, we're not. We're just best friends," she explained. Max nodded.

"Hard to believe, I know," he mumbled. Vanessa elbowed him and turned back to the new girl.

"We pretty much grew up together," she continued. The girl nodded, but couldn't hide the smile on her face. She looked at Max who smiled back and her cheeks went red.

"Oh, are you two dating then?" She asked hesitantly.

"What? EW!" Max replied, making gagging noises. Vanessa folded her arms and glared at Max.

"You're not so appealing yourself," she countered. The blonde girl held up her hands.

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering," she said, her gaze lingering a little bit longer on Max. He took it as a good sign and held out his hand.

"I'm Max," he offered. The girl shook his hand and gave him a shy smile.

"Rebecca, but you can call me Becky," she replied. Vanessa also stuck out her hand.

"I'm Vanessa," she introduced. Becky turned to her and shook her hand as well.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, the shy smile still present.

"So, what house are you planning on getting in?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh… I don't really care. Any house is fine with me. I'm just excited to start school, you know?" she asked. Max nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm the same way. A cool house would be sweet though. No lie there," he confessed. She nodded and smiled a bit.

"Oh wow… Max, Becky, look!" Vanessa said, smiling as the castle came into view. All three of them became quiet as Hogwarts appeared before them. The boats still drifted quietly along as all the first years were silenced with awe.

"Can you believe we're going to school here?" Max asked quietly.

"It's amazing," Becky agreed. Vanessa smirked and looked over at Max.

"We're so going to have fun here," she told him. He smiled as well and the rest of the trip was silent as they came closer and closer to their new school.

"Wow, I wonder if we're going to get lost in here?" Becky mused aloud.

"Probably, they need a map," Vanessa replied. Max rolled his eyes as they were led through the castle up a large flight of stairs where they stood in front of a woman wearing green robes. Vanessa felt someone nudge into her and she turned to see a blonde haired boy standing next to her. He shot her a quick look that said 'watch where you're going' and she glared at him. Before he could reply, the woman spoke.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." She paused and the group of students began to ever so quietly mumble amongst themselves. The woman quickly continued.

"Now while you're here your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking and you will loose points. At the end of the year, the houses with the most points is awarded the house cup." Before she could continue, the sound of a frog echoed through the halls, and Vanessa flinched ever so slightly. She hated those damn creatures.

"Trevor!" a boy cried. He was slightly on the pudgy side, with his ear sticking out like a monkey, and he had a rather horrible overbite. He quickly scooped up the frog sitting at the woman's feet and a few people giggled. He looked up at the green robed witch and she simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry," he mumbled before falling back into the crowd. She took a deep breath and regarded the rest of the group.

"The ceremony will begin shortly," she said, turning around and heading into the hall. The group of students were left alone and all eyes turned on the blonde haired boy next to Vanessa, who began to step forward. She immediately recognized her cousin, Gregory Goyle, standing behind him with his other friend. Despite her family being very close, she rarely talked to her cousin. He was too dull for her to be around anyway.

"It's true then, what they are saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts," the blonde haired boy said. Max scrunched his nose. Whoever this kid was, he immediately didn't like him. Or his attitude.

"Harry Potter?" People mumbled among themselves as they turned to face the boy with the lightening shaped scar. Seeing him for a second time, Max and Vanessa spot his scar sticking out from under his messy hair.

"Looks like a showdown or something," Max whispered to Vanessa as they watched the scene before them unfold.

"You and your imagination," Vanessa whispered back as the blonde boy stepped towards the world famous Harry Potter, her cousin and his friend behind him.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle. And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," the boy introduced. Max never liked Goyle, but he had only met him once. The larger boy had shoved him down and stole his Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Luckily, the bag was filled with some of the nastiest tasting beans known to man. The redheaded boy standing next to Harry Potter snorted at Draco's name, who turned to glare at the boy.

"Oh god, this won't end well," Vanessa said, noting the vicious look in Draco's eyes.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask yours. Red hair and hand-me-down robes? You must be a Wesley," he snarled. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled from behind him, but Vanessa felt her face turn red with anger.

"Hey, what's wrong with red hair!" She snapped. Draco turned to look at her, but Goyle stepped in between them.

"My cousin," he mumbled, trying to defend her. Draco nodded and turned back to Harry.

"You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to be making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there," he explained, offering his hand to the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry looked at Draco's hand, but didn't take it.

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks," he replied coldly. Draco's eyes narrowed at the boy and opened him mouth to insult him, but the woman from before returned. Her eyes were stern, yet tired as she looked at the two boys. Draco gave Harry one last hateful look before turning to face the woman.

"We're ready for you. Follow me." The group of students followed her in and all of them gasped in awe at the great hall. Max briefly heard a girl behind him explain the charm behind the ceiling, but he didn't truly care. It was the most fantastic thing he'd ever seen. He could almost feel the fresh air the night sky provided from the enchanted ceiling. They all stopped before the steps that led up to the professors table and the woman turned to them and instructed them to wait while Professor Dumbledore said a few words. The old headmaster rose and looked upon the small group of children.

"I have a few start-of-term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note, that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to all who do not wish to die a most painful death." Vanessa looked at Max, who was shocked beyond reason. The man must have been joking, right? The headmaster smiled upon the students and gave a small nod. "Thank you."

The students all exchanged looks as he sat down and Professor McGonagall stood forward and took hold of a hat, as well as a long list.

"When I call your name, you will come forth. I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Hermione Granger!" The girl in question froze for a moment before taking a deep breath and muttering a few things to herself. She hesitantly made her way to the hat and let it sit upon her head. She flinched slightly and a few moments later it spoke.

"Gryffindor!" it called. The girl let out a sigh of relief and walked over to the table.

"Draco Malfoy!" Vanessa glanced over and noticed the boy next to her was startled, but moved forward. She would have admitted he was cute, if he wasn't such a jerk. He sat upon the chair and before the hat even sat on his head, it shouted.

"Slytherin!" He smirked and made his way toward the table. Max heard the Wesley boy whisper something to Harry, but didn't have time to think about it before he was called to the chair.

"Maximilian Freeman!" He felt Vanessa squeeze his hand lightly before he stepped forward. Professor McGonagall smiled warmly at him and placed the hat on his head.

_"Ah, a Freeman. I was wondering if another one of you was going to come along. Let's see… intelligent, but not nearly enough qualities that would welcome you to the house of Ravenclaw. Hardworking, but I do not see you succeeding in Hufflepuff. Though you are pure of blood, I think Gryffindor would be better suited. Quite brave, a born leader, and quite chivalrous… better be…"_

"Gryffindor!" It shouted. He smiled and waited for the hat to be taken off before throwing a smile at Vanessa and Becky, who both gave him thumbs up. He sat down next to the girl from before and shook hands with her.

"Rebecca Morgan!" Becky suddenly froze and needed a couple people to push her forward. The hat was on her head a total of three seconds before it called out Hufflepuff, causing her to practically flee the chair and sit down at the table decked out in yellow and black.

"Ronald Wesley!" The redheaded boy paused before making his way up and sitting hesitantly on the chair. The hat was placed on his head and cried "Gryffindor" a second later. A few other redheads at the Gryffindor table began cheering. Vanessa looked over to notice that two of the redheads appeared to be twins, and good looking ones at that. With a blush, she turned her attention back to the sorting.

"Harry Potter!" Vanessa noticed the room become silent as he made his way to the chair, sitting down and jumping slightly as McGonagall placed the hat on his head. Everyone watched patiently as Harry sat on the stool, waiting patiently for the hat to call out his house. Vanessa was closer than Max and she could tell Harry was whispering things to himself.

"Well if you're sure… GRYFFINDOR!" Harry let out a sigh of relief as McGonagall gently pulled the hat off his head. He jumped up and made his way over to the Gryffindor table where his new friends sat. Vanessa turned to look at Max who was looking at her, giving her a thumbs up.

"Vanessa Cook!" McGonagall called out. Vanessa walked up to the stool just as Max had done and took a seat. The hat was lowered onto her head.

"_A Cook. I know exactly where you belong, just as all the Cooks before you," _the hat whispered in her ear. She snapped her eyes shut and thought as loud as she could.

"But I want to be with Max." She did. She knew where her whole family had belonged during their time at Hogwarts, but she had hoped that she wouldn't follow the same path.

"_You are quite brave, but you're far too cunning and too ambitious for that house. No, like all the Cooks before you, you know where you belong…"_

"Slytherin!" The hat called out. Vanessa felt her heart drop as cheers and applause erupted from the table covered in green. The hat was removed and she numbly crossed the room, taking a seat next to her cousin and his friend.

"Seems like you're one of us after all," Draco said with a sneer.

"Shut it," she mumbled, looking across the room at Max. He gave her a sad smile and a thumbs up, despite her new house. She smiled and gave a small nod. He turned back to the table when the sorting was over and she looked down as well.

"Sad that you're separated from your boyfriend?" Draco asked, chuckling with Crabbe and Goyle. Vanessa shot a look at her cousin before turning toward the blonde boy.

"He's not my boyfriend, and I'm upset at the fact that I could be lumped into the same category as yourself," she snapped.

"Prat."

"Arrogant boggart!"

"Banshee!"

"Troll boogies!" The two of them simply shot each other nasty looks until he smiled and turned toward Goyle.

"I like this cousin of yours." Vanessa said nothing else and shook her head as she turned toward the headmaster. She really didn't understand boys.

Max turned toward the group in front of him and quickly got into a conversation with a boy named Dean. He seemed nice enough, but he didn't know him well enough quite yet.

"I'm half and half. Dad's a muggle, Mum's a witch. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out," a boy named Seamus told them.

"What about you, Max was it?" Dean asked.

"Both my parents were wizards. I've never really met with a muggle. There are a few in my neighborhood, but we're pretty secluded," Max explained. He looked over to the girl next to him. "What about you?"

"Oh… both my parents are muggles. They were a bit shocked when I got my letter," she confessed.

"Wow, so you really know nothing about this place?" Max asked.

"Oh no… I know plenty. I spent all summer reading up on the magical world. It's quite fascinating," she said, her brown eyes lighting up just a bit.

"Know-it-all," Ron muttered. Max ignored him and chuckled at her.

"Well, now I know who's helping me with my homework," he said. She smiled and went back to dinner while he went to talking with a boy about the Quidditch World Cup. This was going to be an interesting year at Hogwarts, that was for sure.

"Gather around here. Welcome to the Gryffindor common room," the prefect announced as the first years gathered in the room. Max felt so alone without his best friend, but decided to stick close to Harry and his two friends, Ron and Hermione. Dean and Seamus were getting along and almost forget about him completely.

"This place ain't half bad," he mumbled to himself, but Hermione nodded.

"Hogwarts is such a beautiful place. I can't wait until we begin classes tomorrow!" She exclaimed. Ron rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"You would," he mumbled. Max felt slightly defensive towards the bushy haired girl, but Percy continued before he got the chance to sit up for her.

"Boys' dormitories is upstairs and down to your left. Girls the same on your right. You'll find all your belongings have already been brought up," Percy explained, gesturing up the stairs. Harry and Ron took off upstairs once Percy was done and Max figured he might as well follow as well.

"I'll see you later, Hermione," he said with a wave before taking off after them, obviously the more polite. Hermione waved back, watching the three boys retreating forms.

"I really need to find some female friends…" she muttered to herself.

* * *

Vanessa followed the Slytherin prefect into the dungeons with a frown. Draco was a jerk and her cousin seemed as stupid and dull as ever. His friend Crabbe wasn't much better. Despite being a Slytherin, she felt like she didn't belong here.

"Your junk is already in your room. Goodnight," the grumpy prefect mumbled. He left without another word and Draco turned to face Vanessa.

"Well, perhaps you'd like to hang out with me and the boys for a bit?" He offered, giving her an evil grin. Vanessa rolled her eyes and strolled past the blonde haired boy.

"Not interested," she mumbled as she headed towards what she hoped was her dorm room.

"Fair enough," Draco mumbled. Before he knew it, a black haired pug faced girl appeared in front of him.

"Well I'm very interested," she squealed. Draco shrugged.

"You'll do." Vanessa heard over her shoulder.

"Desperate much?"

* * *

Max ran down the stairs of Gryffindor tower, his books in hand and his tie sloppily tied. He really shouldn't have stayed up the night before with the guys in the dorm.

"Bloody hell, first years are a mess," one of the older kids commented. Max paid no attention to them as he took off, almost missing his turn because of the bloody stairs. By the time he made it to Transfiguration, he tie was still sloppy and his hair was a mess. He noticed Becky sitting at her desk before running over and sitting down.

"Are you alright?" she asked, noticing his attire.

"Woke up late. I'm just lucky I didn't get lost." He always did have a good sense of direction.

"Woke up late? Did you forget about class?" she asked, generally concerned.

"Oh… um… no. Just stayed up late with a few guys," he confessed with a sheepish grin. Becky chuckled and shook her head.

"Well, that was quite stupid of you," she pointed out. He shrugged and began to pull out his books. He had a nasty habit of doing stupid things too. The whole act before you think really didn't do too well in his favor.

"Hey, do you know if Vanessa is in this class?" he asked. Becky shrugged and looked at her own books.

"I haven't seen her, but I don't expect to. She's in Slytherin now." Max shrugged.

"Why would that matter?" Becky shot him a look and sighed.

"Because Slytherin's aren't know for their… pleasantness," she pointed out. Max didn't have a chance to reply before McGonagall started the lesson. While the group began to take notes, Professor looked around the room before transfiguring into a cat. The group looked around in awe, but quickly went back to their notes when they realized that she was watching them.

"Vanessa isn't like them, she's still going to be our friend," Max whispered. Becky shrugged and shot him a look.

"Maybe… don't hold your breath…" Max sighed and jumped as the doors opened and two boys ran in. He instantly noticed that they were Ron and Harry, which he found odd because the boys left before he did.

"Whew, we made it! Can you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if we were late?" Ron said to Harry as they entered the room. Max and half the class looked to the front of the room, knowing the McGonagall was listening to their every word. Before Harry could respond to Ron, McGonagall leapt off the desk and transformed back into a human. Ron and Harry could only watch with amazement like the rest of the class did only ten minutes beforehand.

"Idiots," Hermione mumbled. Harry was completely speechless as their teacher glared down at them.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed. He saw a lot of things as a wizard, but that was not one of them. Max just rolled his eyes at the Weasley boy's innocence.

"Thank you for the assessment, Mr. Weasley. Perhaps it would be more useful if I transfigured Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch. That way one of you would be on time," McGonagall scolded, causing a few stray chuckles to erupt in the classroom. McGonagall glared at the rest of the class before turning back to Harry and Ron.

"W-We got lost," Harry mumbled, slightly afraid of his transfiguration teacher. Max didn't blame him, she was terrifying when she wanted to be.

"The perhaps a map? I trust you don't need one to find your seats," she said. Both boys sat down and McGonagall began teaching. Max shook his head and went back to his parchment. Interesting year indeed.

* * *

Vanessa ran a hand through her red hair as she made her way to the dungeons. She had potions next and was not looking forward to it after running into Professor Snape that morning.

_She ran up the stairs of the common room as she quickly tried to get away from the girl in her dorm. Her name was Pansy-something, and she was annoying as hell. She quickly turned the corner and ran right smack into someone, causing her to groan in pain._

_"Um… ouch. Where do you bloody thing you're going you…" she trailed off when she realized that, not only was she talking to a professor, she was talking to her house professor._

_"Would you care to finish that sentence, Miss Cook?" he asked. Vanessa felt the color drain from her face, and the snaky insult forming on her tongue dropped as she realized that it would do nothing, but get her in trouble._

_"I think it would be better if I didn't, professor," she confessed. He raised an eyebrow and noticed her messy uniform. She had yet to slip on her vest and robe, and her tie was actually hanging out of her bag. The rest of her uniform was in place, however, and even her hair was done._

_"I think so too. Is there a particular place you are heading in such a disarray?" he asked. For a moment she was silent and simply seemed to be in deep thought, and he briefly wondered if it was due to his choice of wording, she was only eleven after all._

_"Would you believe me if I said to class?" she asked. When she got no answer she sighed. "I'm running from one of my roommates, sir. Thus the reason for my uniform not being put together. I planned on stopping at the girls lavatory to finish," she confessed. Snape was silent for a long time before raising one black eyebrow._

_"Then I suggest you run along now, Miss Cook. Wouldn't want you to be late for… class," he said. She nodded and quickly ran away from him, finding the closest bathroom and hiding herself in one of the stalls. She had thirty minutes before class, so she had better start getting ready._

Though he let her off without any trouble, he still intimidated the crap out of her. She blamed the fact that he would just stay silent and stare. She was used to being yelled at or scolded, but never just stared at. She pushed those thoughts away as she went to make her way toward the Potions room, but she stopped when she almost ran into someone.

"Oh," she said automatically. The boy turned to her and she realized it was Harry Potter. She blushed lightly and smiled.

"Hi, Harry right?" she asked. Harry nodded and looked at her robes.

"Um yeah…" There was an awkward silence between them as she shoved her charms book in her shoulder bag.

"So… um… how are you?"

"Why are you talking to me?" he asked coldly. Vanessa raised an eyebrow.

"Because you're in front of me?"

"Slytherins don't talk to Gryffindors. Especially those who are related to gits," he pointed out. Vanessa realized he was referring to Goyle and glared. She may have not gotten along with her cousin, but he was still family.

"Hey, back off. I never did anything to you," she pointed out. He scoffed and seemed to back away from her.

"Not yet…" She glared and crossed her arms.

"My best friend is a Gryffindor, and don't you dare say anything about my cousin. No matter what, he's still my cousin," she hissed.

"I need to go to class," he snapped, brushing her off. He moved past her and left her standing alone.

"You bloody bigot!" she hissed. She felt the urge to go for her wand, but pushed it back. Fine, he wanted to be a jerk, she could do that as well. She held her head up high as she walked into the Potions classroom, the same one Harry just entered and looked around. It seemed, much to her displeasure, there was only one seat open next to Draco Malfoy which left her no choice, but to sit next to him. He said nothing as he saw her, but turned back to messing with the small candle lit in front of him. She rolled her eyes and pulled out her books.

"You will not believe this girl…" she heard someone say. She looked forward and saw Harry talking with the Wesley boy, Ron, she believed his name was. She pressed her lips together and pulled her wand out, ready to use it, only to have Draco reach out and grab her wrist.

"He's not worth a detention. If you're going to get back at him be stealthy about it," he told her. She furrowed her eyebrows, but put her wand away just as Professor Snape stormed into the room.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class," he snarled as he whirled around to face the class. Having cleaned up since their earlier run-in, Vanessa didn't feel so awkward around him. His eyes were stone cold and his lips were pressed together tight, showing his displeasure of being there. Draco had mentioned something about him wanting the Defense Against the Dark Arts job last class to Crabbe, but she didn't really pay much attention. Now as she sat here watching him, it was clear as day.

"As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few who possess the predisposition," he trailed off with a look over towards Draco and herself. The boy had been talking nonstop about how Potions was going to be his favorite class and it appeared she knew why now; Snape knew Draco. Perhaps sticking around with the blonde haired boy wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

"I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I show you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death," he explained as Draco watched intently. Vanessa could here the faint scratching of quill against paper and noticed Harry writing something down on his parchment. So the famous Boy-Who-Lived was a nerd now too?

"Then again maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention." Snape all, but spat the last three words of his sentence, finally catching Harry's attention. Vanessa felt herself chuckling along with Draco and saw Hermione turned around to give Harry and Ron a scolding look, Max sitting next to her. It didn't even occur to Vanessa that she would be having the same class with him until now. Snape crossed the room with a glare held firm upon here and sneered.

"Mr. Potter, our new celebrity. Tell me what would I get if I added root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" As soon as the question left Snape's mouth, both Hermione and Vanessa's hands shot into the air. Vanessa had made sure to actually read her books before coming to school, something that Max had laughed about when she told him. Then again, school wasn't his strong point. Harry looked at Hermione before turning his attention back to Snape, shaking his head.

"You don't know? Well let's try again. Where Mr. Potter would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" Once again, both Hermione and Vanessa's hands shot up into the air. Snape didn't even bother giving them a second glance.

"I don't know, sir," he mumbled, looking at Hermione's raised hand again. Vanessa gave a frustrated sigh. Obviously, Snape didn't care much for the answers. He was just making Harry into a fool. After their early encounter, she thought he deserved it.

"And what is the difference between monkswood and wolfsbane?" Harry was silent for a long moment and Vanessa could not help the smile on her face. Served him right.

"I don't know Sir," he confessed. Snape raised an eyebrow at him.

"Pity. It appears, fame isn't everything… is it, Mr. Potter?" he asked. Harry shot him a look and clenched his fists.

"Why don't you ask Hermione? Clearly she knows," Harry pointed out. The whole room went deathly silent as Snape stared him down. Suddenly he moved over and sat in front of his desk.

"Put your hand down, you silly girl," he hissed to Hermione. She immediately dropped it and huffed. Professor Snape began to talk, but Vanessa was no longer paying attention. She was too busy cheering inside at the fact that Harry had just totally gotten owned by her potions teacher. She turned to look at Max, who was looking at her, and she gave him a small wave. He returned it, but looked back to Snape as he stood up.

"Why aren't you all writing this down? Ten points from Gryffindor for cheek," he snapped, going to his desk and writing something down. Vanessa jumped and immediately began copying Draco's notes.

"That's cheating," he whispered. She shot him a glare and continued.

"What are you going to do about it? Cry?" Draco shot her a look, but did nothing. Vanessa smiled and shot another look at Potter. In a matter of minutes he had turned from her idol, into her pest. Hopefully they could just avoid each other the rest of the year.

* * *

"Nessa!" a voice called. Vanessa quickly looked over and turned away from her cousin as Max made his way toward her.

"Max! Potion's is going to kill me!" she cried. He chuckled and hugged her. She smiled and pulled away, ignoring the small group of Gryffindors looking at them funny.

"Please, you know you'll be doing my homework in no time. I saved up on my Every Flavor Beans just to bribe you," he said. She rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, no. I'm going to have a hard enough time with it as it is. Why don't you see if you can get Granger to do it," Vanessa suggested. Max raised an eyebrow at her name for his new female friend.

"Granger? You mean Hermione?" He asked.

"She's your friend, not mine," Vanessa replied dryly. She'd obviously been hanging out with Draco and his friends too long.

"Well, I want you to be friends with my friends," Max said as they started towards dinner. Vanessa scoffed thinking back to her encounter with Harry. So much for that.

"Harry is a dick," she stated as they neared the main lobby of Hogwarts. Max nodded.

"And Ron is a bigot. However, it's fun beating them in wizard's chess," he said confidently. Vanessa sighed and turned to face Max before they entered the dining hall.

"And why can't Hermione do your homework for you?" She asked. Max sighed.

"She's already doing their's," he explained. Vanessa mimicked his sigh as they started in.

"This whole being in different house thing sucks."

"I know… I found your brush by the way," he said. Her eyes lit up and she smiled.

"Really? I had to steal one from some girl in my dorm and it took me forever to finally get all of her nasty hair out of it. Then I broke it when I tried to disinfect it," she confessed. They slowly began walking down their tables. One said Slytherin, the other Gryffindor.

"What? How did you do that?" Her cheeks turned the slightest of pink and she shrugged.

"I got frustrated with the charm I was trying to do and just gave up. I ended up setting it on fire and putting the ashes on the girls pillow," she said.

"Well… that was probably unnecessary," he commented. She stopped walking and shrugged.

"You're probably right. However, doesn't make it any less funny. Stupid Pansy…"

"You can't put ashes on the girls bed then call her names, it's not really all that nice," Max said, trying to stick up for the poor girl. He could already see himself being the buffer between herself and the rest of the world. Otherwise, she might just kill someone.

"No! That's her name. Pansy…" He raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"Okay…" she chuckled and hugged him.

"I'll see you at flying lessons. Can you believe we're going to learn how to fly a broom?" she asked. Despite the statement, she looked less than happy about the situation.

"I mean, I already know how, but yeah, it should be cool. I'll see you then," he replied, breaking away and sitting down at his table. He sat across from Ron, who looked slightly appalled.

"What?" Max asked, confused at the redheads face.

"You were just talking to a Slytherin!" he pointed out. Max sighed, already seeing this as a problem in the future.

"That's Vanessa, she's like… my best friend," he defended. Ron shook his head, completely in disbelief.

"But she's a filthy Slytherin," he argued. Harry and Hermione exchanged looks as Max narrowed his eyes at the redhead.

"And you're a bigot," he countered. Harry smiled and Hermione chuckled to herself. Max looked across the room to where Vanessa sat, seemingly as frustrated as he was. Draco was probably grilling her about the same thing.

"Dude, seriously. All those who get sorted into Slytherin are bad people," Ron explained, as if it was the most obviously thing in the world, but Max wouldn't have it.

"Says who?"

"Every wizard or witch in Slytherin has turned out bad. Like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Ron explained confidently. Hermione scoffed at his naïve comment.

"People who are bad are usually sorted there, but not all Slytherins are bad," she reasoned. Ron slammed his fork down on the table.

"Name one," he challenged. Hermione smiled.

"Horace Slughorn." Ron, Max, and Harry all gave her a confused looked.

"Who?" The redhead asked. Max smiled, despite the fact he didn't have the slightest clue who the man Hermione was talking about. He'd have to ask her or Vanessa later.

"Exactly. Not all Slytherins are bad," he said triumphantly.

"It's just their qualities and traits that get them sorted into that house," Hermione stated happily. Ron looked at the two before looking across the room at Vanessa.

"So she's evil then?"

* * *

Vanessa sighed as Draco continued on.

"You shouldn't associate with filthy Gryffindors!" Draco declared. Vanessa sighed.

"For the last time, Draco, Max is my best friend," she said, playing with the food on her plate. Ever since he opened his mouth, she'd been resisting the urge to stab him with her fork.

"He's a goody-two shoes now," Draco declared. Vanessa slammed her fork down and turned to face him.

"Seriously, just stop," she snapped. But of course, he was far to superior to listen to her.

"Not to mention he hangs out with Potty Wee Potter and the Weasel. Oh, and that filthy mudblood." Vanessa rolled her eyes. Sure, she wasn't too keen on the Granger girl, but that was going a bit too far. Then again, her parents were the same way.

"Draco, I swear I will learn a jinx and jinx you into next year. Max is a pureblood and I hate Potter. I haven't met his friends yet, but I don't like them either. So just shut up," she snapped, her voice laced with venom. Draco paused before scoffing and turning to his food.

"If you know what's best for you, you might as well stay away from them. You'll ruin your pureblood name," Draco told her. Vanessa placed her face in her hands and groaned.

"Please, at least leave Max alone. Please?" she asked, her eyes suddenly turned pleading. The same thing worked on her father, she wondered if it would have the same effect on Draco. He paused for a moment before sighing and stabbing the food on his plate in anger.

"Fine…" Goyle and Crabbe exchanged looks before Pansy sat down across from them.

"Hey, Cook! Did you put ashes on my bed?" Vanessa hid the smirk well and shot a look at Max, who was suddenly smiling widely.

"Who? Me?"

* * *

Max smiled as he felt the chill of the September air hit his face. Their flying lessons were outside, naturally, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He glanced over and watched at Vanessa made quick conversation with Rebecca, only to have Goyle say something and distract her from the other girl and begin to walk away. She quickly said a goodbye and ran over toward Malfoy's small group, much to Max's dismay.

"You mean we'll actually fly brooms?" Harry asked Ron. Ron nodded and smiled.

"I've seen Fred and George do it, it actually looks like fun!" he exclaimed. Max looked down at his broom and smiled. His parents had given him a broom at the age of six, and he had been riding ever since. Hopefully, this would be a breeze. A second later, a woman made her way toward the small group of children.

"Good afternoon class!" she called.

"Good afternoon, Madame Hooch," they chorused. She turned to the class and everyone could see there was a slight twinkle in her eye.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up. Stick your right hand over the broom and say up." No sooner had the words left Madam Hooch's mouth had the chorus of ups echoed through the courtyard.

"Up," Max said proudly as the broom shot up into his hand. Harry watched this before turning to his own broom.

"Up!" He demanded. Like Max's, the broom shot into his hands. Hermione watched in awe at the ease the two boys had.

"Up… up! Up! UP!" She tried, but her broom remained lifeless. Draco watched her struggled and turned to his own broom.

"Silly mudblood… up!" Draco's broom shot into his hand as well. Vanessa sighed. Max had tried to teach her, but she held a small fear of heights.

"Up," she tried, but her broom just bounced on the ground a bit.

"With feeling!" Madam Hooch encouraged. Vanessa looked up to see the Weasley boy smack himself in the face with the broom.

"Ow…" Harry and Max burst out laughing as Hermione continued to try with no avail.

"That was some skill there, Ron," Max said as he mounted his broom. With little trouble, he began to float. Ron shot him a jealous glare.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Very nice display, Mr. Freeman, but please wait until everyone else is that far ahead," Madam Hooch scolded. Reluctantly, Max hopped off his broom and waited.

"Up!" Vanessa tried once more. This time the broom shot up, missed her hand, and slapped Pansy Parkinson in the face, two people down from her.

"COOK!" She snarled, holding her nose.

"It might actually be an improvement," Draco whispered to her, causing her to burst out laughing.

"Now once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it," the professor instructed. Max rolled his eyes and got back onto his broom. Ron, Harry, and Hermione cautiously got onto their own brooms as he looked down at Vanessa. After retrieving her broom, she returned next to Malfoy.

"Grip it tight. You don't want to be sliding off the end," Madam Hooch warned them.

"Careful, don't want you sliding off the end now," Draco warned with a playful smile. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Shut it, I'm not that bad." Once all the students were ready, Madam Hooch grabbed her whistle.

"When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground. Hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle. Three, two…" The whistle sounded like nails on a chalkboard, but Max shook off the feeling and gently lifted off the ground again.

"Mr. Longbottom! Mister… mister… Mr. Longbottom!" Max looked up to see the plump little boy with the toad rise off the ground at an alarming rate. He had no control over the broom as he began shaking and jerking it around.

"Idiot…" he mumbled to himself, but felt bad for the boy. Draco was laughing hysterically with Vanessa smiling next to him. Max just hoped she wasn't turning into another Malfoy. It was the last thing this world needed.

"HELP! HELP!" He cried out as he continued to rise. Max considered flying up to help the boy, but Madam Hooch seemed to have things under control. If by under control, she thought shouting at the boy was going to help.

"Come back down this instant!" She called out. Max watched in horror at the boy flew towards one of the castle's walls, slamming his broomstick into the side. However, he remained seated.

"That takes skill," he whispered to Hermione.

"That looks like it hurts," she replied, watching as he dive-bombed back down.

"Yeah, poor kid will probably won't be able to sit for a week," Max mumbled as Madam Hooch whipped out her wand.

"Mr. Longbottom!" She cried out as he began racing towards the crowd. At the last moment, she dove out of the way with the rest of the students following her example. Hermione turned back to Max.

"Huh?" She asked, not having heard him. Max shook his head.

"Nevermind." Neville continued to race off into the distance before doubled back. Finally, he lost his grip on his old broomstick and slipped off. Despite how humorous she found it, Vanessa gasped when she saw the idiotic Gryffindor fall off his broom. Luckily, a statue was there to catch him by the tip of his spear. Neville's robes were only able to hold on for so long as the ripped from above him. Finally, the material gave way and Neville tumbled back down to the ground.

"Everyone out of the way!" Madam Hooch cried out, rushing to the injured boy. The rest of the group followed, but not before Malfoy picked something up the ground. They gathered around watched as Madam Hooch began to inspect his wrist.

"Oh, oh, oh. Oh dear, it's a broken wrist. Poor boy. Come on now, up you get," she said, lifting the boy up on his feet.

"Poor boy," Hermione muttered. Vanessa heard the girl and rolled her eyes.

"Idiot is more like it," she whispered. She saw Max shoot her a look and she shrugged.

"Everyone is to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. Understand? If I see a single broom in the air the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say 'Quidditch,'" she instructed, leading the boy away from the group. When she was finally was out of ear range, Malfoy held up the clear little sphere he found on the ground.

"Did you see his face? If the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he would remember to fall on his fat arse." Most of the Slytherin's laughed, but Vanessa simply rolled her eyes and leaned on her broom. It was funny, but it would soon get old. Harry stepped forward and glared at the blonde haired boy.

"Give it here, Malfoy," he missed. Malfoy turned to him and shot him a nasty look.

"No, I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find." He then sat on his broom and gave a small kick off the ground, causing his broom to soar up in the air.

"Show-off," Max muttered. Though he really didn't have much room to talk.

"How about on the roof?" Draco screamed from the air. Harry pressed his lips together and gripped his broom a little harder than needed.

"He is such a prat," Ron muttered.

"Have you met him recently?" Max asked.

"What's the matter Potter? A bit beyond your reach?" he asked, the cocky smirk still on his lips. Harry finally had enough and mounted his broom. Hermione stepped forward immediately.

"Harry, no way! You heard what Madam Mooch said! You don't even know how to fly!"

"The boy doesn't need a mother, Granger. If he wants to break his neck, let him!" Vanessa told her.

"Vanessa," Max hissed, not appreciating her comment. She shrugged and looked at Harry, who ignored them all and kicked off the ground.

"What and idiot!" she hissed. The group below watched as the two boys exchanged words before Malfoy chucked the remembrall across the large field. Harry paused for a moment before taking off after it, causing the group of students to watch him go. Right before he smacked into a window, he caught it and turned himself around, causing the group to gasp in surprise.

"Wow… that was… wow…" Max muttered. He turned to his best friend. "Even you have to admit that was cool," he said. She let a smile slip and shrugged.

"It was cool…" Harry soon touched down to the ground and most of the class ran toward him, with the exception of the Slytherins, who stood next to Malfoy as he glared.

"Harry Potter!" a voice called, causing the class to become silent. Everyone turned toward Professor McGonagall, who regarded the boy with a stern look.

"Follow me," she said. The Slytherin group began to chuckle and Vanessa held a cocky smile. Served the little bugger right. She didn't care if she was being mean, if he was going to be a bigot, she was going to be rude.

* * *

"Come on, you'd got to admit that Harry Potter isn't just all talk," Max said as they both sat in the library. Vanessa had convinced him to at least try to work on his Potion's essay.

"No, but I still don't like him," Vanessa replied as she opened her Charms textbook.

"Well I figured that one out myself," Max chuckled as Vanessa folded her arms.

"He's such a bigot!" She exclaimed.

"He does hang out with one of the biggest twats I've ever met," Max agreed. Harry and Ron were his friends, but it didn't mean he thought of them the same way he thought of his best friend. Harry was a very naïve boy and Ron had obviously had some misguided views shoved on him as a child. And now, they were both acting like morons.

"Now Max, don't talk about yourself that way," Vanessa teased.

"Ha ha, very funny. Ron treats people like crap, mostly women, and I don't like it," he explained, happy to have someone to confide in. Vanessa nodded.

"You have a thing for the Granger girl, don't you?" With one look from Max, she coughed. "I mean, Hermione."

"No, I don't. She's just a nice girl. Actually, she reminds me a lot of you," Max said as he scratched something out on his essay.

"I am nothing like the mudblo-… that girl. I'm far more interesting," Vanessa told him, trying to censor herself. She never liked the word, but considering that Draco used it in almost every other sentence, she was starting to pick up some of his nasty habits. Max caught her using that word and frowned even more.

"Nessa… don't be like that," he said. She sighed and began to write a few more lines down on her potions essay.

"Sorry… I hear it a lot in the common room. Mostly the older kids are big upon saying it," she confessed. Max sighed and tapped his fingers.

"I wish you were in Gryffindor… then you would see they aren't so bad," he admitted.

"Your friends? Or muggle-borns?" she asked. Max pressed his lips together and frowned even further at his friend.

"You know what I mean… you're turning into a female version of Malfoy," he hissed. Vanessa stopped her writing and shot him a look.

"I am not! Look, I'm not the only one not happy with the other's friends. And he's not even my only friend. I've been hanging out with a few of the second year girls, and I really like them."

"Yes, but the only one who has seemed to have any real influence on you is Malfoy," Max hissed. Vanessa clenched her fist and slammed a book down and tossed it over to him.

"Read this and get some notes, you'll need it for your essay, since you refuse to pay attention. Honestly, how do you plan on passing if you can't even stay awake?" she hissed. Max began to chuckle and shook his head. She was more like Hermione than she knew. Her wondered for a moment if the two of them would be the top of their classes, despite neither being in Ravenclaw.

"Just… try not to let your new friends influence you too much, okay?" he asked. She gave a heavy sigh and looked into his blue eyes.

"Fine, as long as you keep Potter and that red headed mess away from me. Bloody idiots."

"And Hermione?" he asked. She scoffed and wrote the last few lines of her essay.

"Just keep her away from Malfoy and the rest of them, and I promise I won't say anything to her." He smiled and placed a hand on her arm.

"Thank you." She smiled and shrugged.

"Of course. Now finish your essay!"

* * *

Vanessa took her usual seat next to Draco for breakfast.

"Did you hear the news?" He asked. Vanessa looked up.

"What news?" She asked as she pulled some food onto her plate. Draco narrowed his eyes as he looked over to the Gryffindor table.

"They made Potter the Gryffindor seeker," he practically snarled. Vanessa looked up to where Harry was sitting. People would walk by and pat him on the back, congratulating him as they passed.

"Really? I thought first years weren't allowed to join the Quidditch team?" She inquired. At least, that's what Max told her. He wanted to go out for the team himself, but said he had to wait until next year.

"They're not, but of course Potter is too good for the rules. If I could, I'd go out for the Slytherin team," Draco declared. Crabbe and Goyle agreed like the good lackeys they were while Vanessa nodded into her food.

"Well, you've got some talent," she agreed. Draco turned to her.

"Some?"

"You know what I mean."

* * *

"Harry, that's bloody brilliant!" Ron declared as Fred and George walked away.

"I don't understand what the all the fuss is about," Hermione mumbled as she carefully arranged the food on her plate.

"They don't let first years play Quidditch," Max told her. She rolled her eyes.

"All you boys talked about is Quidditch," she mumbled.

"I know, it's amazing!" Harry said happily as Ron patted him on the back.

"Do you even know how to play?" Max asked as he pulled out his Potions essay. He was almost finished, but he didn't have the class until the end of the day.

"Oliver Wood is going to help me later," Harry declared.

"Well, if you ever want someone to pal around with, just let me know. I've been playing Quidditch for awhile now," Max offered. Harry nodded happily before turning back to his breakfast.

"Aren't you bloody perfect," Ron spat. Max looked up from his essay to glare at the redhead.

"You're just jealous because you know I could whoop your ass from here to the Quidditch field," Max countered. Ron went to open his mouth again, but Harry nudged him.

"Come on, let's not fight!"

* * *

Max gave a small yawn as he watched the short charms professor begin to tell them about how to levitate a feather. He honestly didn't care, but he assumed it would be important so he paid attention. That and he was afraid what Vanessa might do if he didn't.

"Swish and flick… now come on, try it out!" he said. Max gave a small yawn and turned toward his feather. Maybe if he just threw it up in the air he could fool the man into thinking he levitated it. The thought banished from his head as he began to try in incantation, though nothing happened.

"It's Levi-o-sa, not Leviosar," Hermione corrected. Ron glared at her and crossed his arms.

"You do it then," he snapped. She shrugged and looked down at her feather.

"Wingardium Leviosa." A second later her feather was up in the air, much to Ron's displeasure.

"Well done! Look everyone, Miss Granger's got it!" the professor called. Ron frowned and scrunched his nose, but the moment was soon over when a loud explosion echoed out and they saw Seamus covered in black soot and his feather on fire.

"We're going to need another feather, Professor," he said.

* * *

"Would you stop making things float?" Draco hissed. Vanessa smirked and placed the apple on his head, much to his displeasure.

"Jealous Draco? You may be able to fly around on your little broom stick, but I am far superior when it comes to charms and spells," Vanessa gloated.

"You might even give that mudblood a run for her money," he snapped. Vanessa rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"It's Halloween, at least act pleasant," she snapped, turning toward the girl next to her and starting a conversation. Draco shook his head and looked toward Goyle.

"Is your cousin always like this?" he asked. Goyle looked over to Vanessa and shrugged.

"Normally she is more full of herself," he confessed. Vanessa heard him and threw some food at him, causing the first years to chuckle.

* * *

Max glanced down the table and noted that Hermione was not at the table. Harry seemed to notice as well.

"Where is Hermione?" he asked.

"Parvati Patil said she's wouldn't come out of the girl's bathroom. She said she's been there all afternoon, crying," Neville explained. Max frowned and looked at Ron, who frowned as well. He was not there for his comment, but if he was, he would've smacked him in the nose.

"Well, what do we do?" Max asked, staring sadly at Hermione's empty seat.

"Normally I'd say let her be, but we have been kind of treating her like crap," Ron admitted. Max and Harry turned to glare at him.

"No, you've been treating her like crap," Max defended. Ron shrugged.

"Same thing."

"Not really," Harry countered. Max brushed it off, knowing that fighting with Ron was like fighting with a four year old.

"So what should we do?" Ron asked. Max sighed in defeat, but suddenly he had an idea.

"I have an idea," he said before getting up from the table. He felt nervous as he crossed the room, students from all the different houses starring at him strangely. Finally, he approached his destination.

"Max, what are you doing here?" Vanessa asked as she looked up from her conversation with a slightly overweight girl. She glared at Max, but he ignored her as he sat down next to Vanessa.

"Can I ask for a favor?" He asked. Vanessa sighed.

"No, I'm not doing your Charms research for you," she told him. Max frowned.

"Well, that saves me the trouble of asking later, but that's not it." Vanessa raised an eyebrow, but before she could reply, a voice cut in.

"Well look what we've got here," Draco said as he approached his normal seat. Max looked up and realized he'd been sitting in the blonde's normal seat. Being the polite boy his mother raised him to be, he got up and offered Draco the seat. Vanessa could see the insult forming on the tip of Draco's tongue.

"Draco, no," she snapped. Draco opened his mouth, but closed it right away before taking his seat. Max turned back to Vanessa.

"Listen, can you do me a favor and talk to Hermione?" Max pleaded.

"Um, why?" Vanessa asked. She'd promised to be nicer to his friend, but becoming her friend hadn't been part of the deal.

"Ron said something really nasty to her and she's been in the girl's bathroom all day. I'd go, but I'm lacking the equipment for that," he admitted. Vanessa gave him a wicked smile.

"I can look up a spell to change that," she offered.

"Nessa…" Max trailed off, giving her the best pleading look that he could.

"Fine, fine, I'm going."

"You're going to help him? Draco asked. Vanessa shrugged and took a bite of her roll before setting it down.

"Um… yeah. I'll be back," she said. She patted Max on the head as she turned toward the exit and began walking out. Max smiled and turned back to his table, sitting down where he head before.

"What was that about?" Ron asked.

"I asked Vanessa to see if she was alright," Max admitted.

"You sent _her_ in after Hermione?" Harry asked, a bit appalled.

"Just relax. She's not going to jinx her or anything. What's the worst that can happen?" he asked. The next second the doors opened and Professor Quirrell came in screaming.

"TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" he paused as there was a deathly silence between them. "Thought you ought to know," he breathed. A second later, the room erupted in screams and Dumbledore stood up.

"Silence!" Everyone became quiet and Max felt his blood run cold. He had never seen a troll, but he had heard enough from his parents to know they were bad news.

"Everyone will please not panic! Now prefects please escort your house to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons," he instructed. Immediately, everyone began to move, with Harry, Ron, and Max huddled together.

"How could a troll get into the dungeon?" Harry asked.

"No clue. Trolls are stupid though. Someone must have let it in as a joke," Ron explained.

"Some joke…" Max mumbled. A minute later, Harry stopped, causing both boys to turn toward him.

"What?" Harry's eyes went wide and his face turned pale.

"Hermione… she doesn't know!" Max also turned pale.

"Vanessa…"

* * *

"Gran- erm…. Hermione?" Vanessa called. She had left the great hall and passed a Professor Quirrell on her way to the bathroom, but thought nothing of it as she found the bathroom the girl was in. The sound of sobbing echoed through the bathroom as Hermione opened the door and furrowed her eyebrows at the other girl.

"W-what do you want?" she asked. Vanessa noticed her hand inching toward her wand, but tired to ignore it.

"Um… Max said that you were upset and asked me to make sure you were alright," Vanessa explained. The girl was obviously not alright, that much was obvious. Vanessa couldn't help but feel bad for her.

"Oh… that was nice of you, but I'm alright." Vanessa raised a red eyebrow and held back the urge to scoff.

"Please, no offense, but you looked like someone killed your cat," she pointed out. Hermione sniffled a bit and wiped her eyes.

"I'm fine, Ron just-"

"-I knew it. Listen, the boy is a bloody idiot, and deserves to have the worst jinx put on him known to man. I wouldn't worry about it, boys are stupid. I mean, I can give him a real nasty curse if you'd like." Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you helping me? I'm… well…" she trailed off.

"Because Max asked me too. Listen, if this Wesley boy or Potter ever trouble you, I'll teach you a nice little jinx to make them back off," Vanessa told her.

"I don't know… that might be a little-"

"-Listen, nothing says don't mess with me like a bat boogies jinx." This got Hermione to chuckle.

"You know, Harry and Ron really were wrong about you. Not all Slytherins are bad," she admitted, trying to sound grateful. Still, Vanessa was resisting taking offense to her statement.

"Who says I'm not bad?" She said with a sly smile. Max called it the Slytherin smile.

"Max does. He's always telling us about how awesome you are, and he's right," Hermione said with a smile. Vanessa returned her smile.

"Well thanks." Hermione walked over to the sink to wash off her face quickly.

"I suppose we should really get out of here," she said when she was finished as they headed towards the exit.

"Good plan." Before they could leave though, a loud crash was heard. Vanessa backed up as a large troll smashed through the entrance of the girl's bathroom.

"What in the name of Merlin's beard is that?" Vanessa grabbed a hold of her robes and gently pulled her back with her.

"That would be a troll," she confessed. Hermione's eyes went wide and pulled her into a stall. A second later, Vanessa forced the Gryffindor girl to duck as the stalls suddenly became missing. In return, Hermione grabbed a hold of her sleeve and both of them crawled away toward the sinks, which the troll smashed too. Hermione looked over and saw three figures at the door, which caused a flicker of hope to brew in her stomach.

"Help!" she cried. Vanessa looked over and her pale green eyes met his glass framed emerald.

"Don't stand there! Help out!" She screamed.

"Hey! Pea brain!" Ron called. All three of the boys began to throw broken bricks at the monster. The troll momentarily forgot about the girls and turned toward the boys. Harry immediately lifted his want to try and cast a spell, but the creature grabbed him by his leg and held him in the air. Both Ron and Max stood back in shocked and seemed at a loss to do anything.

"Do something!" Harry called.

"Like what?" Both boys answered.

"Anything!" he called. Max thought about it and pulled out his wand. Ron followed in suit and both of them stared at the club the troll held.

"Swish and flick!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" There was a pause before the club became suspended in midair and both Max and Ron were smiling.

"Cool…" Ron muttered. Max nodded and a moment later, the club dropped onto the troll's head. He dropped Harry to the floor before falling down himself. Vanessa pulled on Hermione's wrist and they crawled out from under the sink. Both girls ran towards Max. Vanessa threw herself into Max's arms while Hermione stood shyly next to her. Max gestured for her to join the hug too.

"Hey, I helped too!" Ron said. Hermione turned to hug him as well, but Vanessa shook her head.

"See, you're not as bad at Charms as you thought you were," she told Max. He shrugged and gave her a half smile.

"Think I can get some extra credit for that?" He asked. Harry rejoined the group as everyone turned toward the troll.

"Is it dead?" Hermione asked weakly.

"No, just knocked out," Harry said confidently as he searched for his wand. Vanessa gestured to the troll's nose.

"You might want your wand back," she said, thoroughly enjoying the look of disgust on Harry's face.

"Ugh…" He mumbled, removing his wand from the troll's nose. Max chuckled as he tried to wipe the snot away on his robes.

"Troll boogies," Ron confirmed, equally as disgusted.

"Oh my goodness! Explain yourselves, all of you!" McGonagall demanded as he scurried into the bathroom. Professors Quirrell and Snape were right behind her.

"Well, you see-" Harry started, but Hermione cut him off.

"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall," Hermione said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Ms. Granger?" She asked, completely appalled that one of her best students would do such a thing.

"I went looking for the troll. I've read about them and I thought I could handle it. But I was wrong," Hermione admitted, tears still forming in her eyes. Max, Harry, and Ron starred at the bookworm with surprised looks on their faces. The Hermione they thought they knew would never lie to a professor like that. Vanessa, on the other hand, was impressed. Perhaps Hermione wasn't the goody-two shoes that she once thought.

"Hermione…" Max said, stepping forward, but she just shook her head.

"If these four hadn't come and found me… I'd probably be dead," she said, giving the four of them a look of gratitude. Professor McGonagall looked at the three Gryffindors before looking at Vanessa. She would be lying if she wasn't surprised she was there. Slytherin students tended to avoid Gryffindors at all costs. Vanessa sensed the woman's eyes on her and pointed toward Hermione.

"Her idea," she said. McGonagall sighed and turned toward her students.

"Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do. I would have expected more rational behavior on your part and am very disappointed in you Miss. Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment." Hermione looked down in shame for losing her house some points.

"As for you four, I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many first year students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points will be awarded to each of you, for sheer dumb luck," she said, rolling her eyes and walking out of the bathroom. All of them exchanged looks of relief and watched as Professor Snape glared at his student.

"It would be wise of you, Miss Cook, to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. She gave a nod and watched him leave the room, much to the students' relief. Professor Quirrell looked at them and gave a small smile.

"P-perhaps you ought to go. It m-might wake up," he said, stuttering a bit. All five of them exited the bathroom and Vanessa turned toward Max.

"That is the last time I do a favor for you. I go to cheer a girl up and get attacked by a cave troll, bloody hell," Vanessa snapped. Max smiled and hugged her again.

"Thank you Vanessa," he said. She rolled her eyes and pulled away.

"I'm leaving before I get the whole Gryffindor brave and virtuous feeling. I would rather not feel bad about putting Dragon Dung in Parkinson's bed." Max rolled his eyes and said a quick goodbye as she turned around and began walking. Hermione then stepped forward.

"Vanessa!" the Slytherin girl turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" Hermione offered her a smile.

"Thank you…" Vanessa gave a mock bow and pointed to her nose.

"Don't forget, Bat Boogies," she replied before walking away. Hermione just smiled and turned toward the boys.

* * *

"What are we doing out here?" Harry asked as Max lead them down to the Quidditch field.

"I know you've been training with Oliver Wood, but the big game against Slytherin is coming up soon and I figured we could help you train," Max suggested. Ron nodded.

"Oh yeah, because we're totally top notch Quidditch players right here," he mumbled. Hermione elbowed him.

"Max is just trying to help Harry out," she reasoned. Harry scratched his head as Max pulled out a few brooms.

"I appreciate it, but I don't think I need it," Harry said as Max shoved the broom into his hand.

"Is that so? Then you'll have no problem getting your glasses back," Max said. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? I have my glasses right here," Harry said. Max pulled out his wand.

"Accio glasses," he said, thankful for Vanessa finding that little charm in a book. Harry's glasses shot into his hand before he mounted his broom and took off into the stadium.

"Well that wasn't very nice of him," Ron grumbled. Reluctantly, Harry mounted his broom and kicked off.

"Be careful, Harry!" Harry ignored her and flew in the general direction he thought Max went.

"Hey, come on! I can't see without those," he called. Max gave him a sympathetic look before chucking them to the side.

"Go get them!" Harry realized what he meant and took off immediately. Max just sat back and watched as the seeker in training dove down to catch them right before they hit the ground. Hermione clapped and Ron smiled at his triumph as Harry turned back to Max.

"That wasn't nice at all. I think Cook is rubbing off on you," he snapped. Max rolled his eyes and pulled out a snitch.

"Alright, alright. Hey Ron! Come on, we need to play!" he called.

"I still think this is absurd," Harry muttered.

"Don't worry, Potter, we'll have you ready for this game in no time."

* * *

"Becky!" Rebecca turned toward the sound of the voice and smiled lightly as Vanessa ran over to her.

"Hi, Vanessa… what are you up to?" she asked.

"Oh, I was going to find a place to read, but I saw you and thought I might as well say hi!" Rebecca chuckled and smiled.

"Thanks, I was about to walk around the grounds for a little, care to join?" she asked. Vanessa smiled and wrapped her scarf around her.

"Yup, anything to get away from all this talk about Quidditch," she said. Both girls began their walk and headed toward Hagrid's cabin.

"You don't like Quidditch?" Rebecca asked. Vanessa scrunched her nose and shook her head.

"No way. Max always made me play the game with him when we were little, despite the fact that I hate flying."

"You hate it? I always kind of liked it. It seems like freedom, you know?" Vanessa shrugged and watched as the groundkeeper made his way out of the forest. He seemed nice enough, but she was a bit afraid to talk to him. In her defense, he was about six feet taller than her.

"I guess. If we were meant to fly we would have wings. I like my feet firmly on the ground." Rebecca shrugged and closed her robes in an effort to keep warm.

"You excited for the game tomorrow?"

"Um… no. I tried to see if I can just stay in the common room and read, but Draco said that if I didn't go, he would tell Parkinson that it was me who poured water in her shoes," she confessed. Rebecca looked a little appalled by the statement.

"Why would you do that?" she asked.

"Because it's funny and she's rude. Who are you rooting for?" Vanessa asked. Rebecca blushed ever so slightly and shrugged.

"I think I'm rooting for Gryffindor…"

"You and the other half of the school. It's okay. I'm rooting for a tie so they can both shut the hell up." Rebecca laughed and shook her head. Never in a million years did she think she would be friends with a Slytherin. Yet, as she heard the girls plans to prank her cousin, she was immensely glad she was. Better to be with her than against her.

* * *

Harry starred down at his plate and sighed.

"Take a bit of toast, mate. Go on," Ron encouraged, but Harry just shook his head.

"Ron's right, Harry. You're going to need your strength today," Hermione tried, but Harry just shook his head once more.

"I'm not hungry," he replied dryly. Max sighed and picked up some toast before shoving it on his plate.

"Eat it or I'm playing your position today," Max threatened. Harry glared at him before picking up a piece of toast and taking a bite out of it. As soon as he took his first bite, he began piling more food on his plate.

"What was that about?" Hermione wondered out loud. Max chuckled.

"The stress was making him feel like he wasn't hungry, but as soon as he got some food in him, he realized he was starving," Max explained.

"Happen to you often?" Hermione asked. He shrugged, but nodded.

"A few times. It was a trick Vanessa taught me, actually," he told her. Hermione smiled before turning back to her homework. Ron grabbed a piece of bacon off one of the many plates before them and shoved it into his mouth.

"Vanessa this and Vanessa that. Perhaps you just marry the girl!" Ron declared.

"You're a git, you know that?" Max mumbled. Before Ron could reply, a shadow covered the table. Everyone looked behind Ron to see Professor Snape hovering nearby.

"Good luck today, Potter. Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you. Even if it is against Slytherin," he said, though his statement sounded more like a challenge than anything else. He said nothing else as he began to walk away, limping just ever so slightly. Harry furrowed his eyebrows at the motion before a light bulb went off in his head.

"That explains the blood," he mumbled.

"What blood?" Hermione asked.

"Listen, last night, I'm guessing Snape let the troll in as diversion so he could get past that three headed dog. But, he got bit, that's why he's limping." Max looked at the group confused.

"Why would anyone want to go near that dog?" Hermione asked.

"What dog?"

"We got stuck up on the third floor and found… a three headed giant dog standing on top of a trap door," Harry explained.

"And you think that Snape wanted to go wrestle with a three headed giant dog?" Max asked.

"If he lost, that's probably why he's so crabby," Ron chimed in.

"The day I was at Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults. Said it was Hogwarts business, very secret," Harry said, obviously not paying attention to the others conversation.

"So what you're say is-"

"-That's what the dog is guarding. That is what Snape is after." Before anyone could add anything, a owl flew in and dropped a parcel in front of Harry. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"It's a bit early for mail, isn't it?" she asked.

"I never get any mail," Harry muttered.

"Let's open it!" Ron exclaimed. All four of them began to dig into the package, only to back off and let a small gasp escape each of their mouths.

"It's a broomstick!" Harry said in awe.

"It's not just a broomstick, Harry. It's a Nimbus 2000!" Max looked as though he were on the verge of tears.

"It's the fastest broom in the Nimbus series. It's… bloody hell, what I wouldn't do for this broom," Max said quietly.

"But who…" Harry trailed off and looked to McGonagall, who was lightly petting Harry's owl. He smiled lightly, but his attention was drawn back to the group when Max spoke.

"If you get into a coma during this game, can I have your broom?"

* * *

Max settled into his seat next to Hermione. Ron sat on the other side of her, practically bouncing in his seat.

"This is going to be awesome! We're going to clobber Slytherin for sure!" Ron exclaimed. Max chuckled.

"We better, I didn't teach all that stuff to Harry for nothing," he grumbled. Hermione patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm sure Harry will do amazing," she reassured him.

"Hello! Welcome to Hogwart's first Quidditch game of the season! Today's game; Slytherin vs. Gryffindor! The player's take their positions as Madam Hooch steps onto the field to begin the game!" Lee Jordan announced. Hermione held up her binoculars to get a better view of the field. The stands weren't made for a person to be able to see the field clearly.

"Now, I want a nice clean game… from all of you!" Madam Hooch said as the captain's shook hands. Oliver Wood's face remained emotionless as Marcus Flint glared at the fellow captain.

"The Bludgers are up. Followed by the Golden Snitch. Remember the Snitch is worth 150 points. The Seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game. The Quaffle is released and the game begins!" Max scoffed from his seat.

"Seriously, why are people even out here if they don't know how the beautiful game is played!" He mumbled. They watched in silence as the catchers tried franticly to gain position of the Quaffle. After what felt like forever, someone finally scored.

"Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points for Gryffindor!" The game continued and a second later, Max heard the booming voice of Hagrid behind him.

"What's going on with Harry's broomstick?" he asked. All three of the students looked up and saw the brand new broom jerking around, causing confused looks from everyone.

"It's Snape, he's jinxing the broomstick," Hermione pointed out, as she looked across the field to the teachers section through her binoculars. Both Max and Ron looked at her shocked and appalled.

"No way!" Max whispered.

"Jinxing the broom? What do we do?" Ron asked. Hermione paused for a moment before turned toward them and handing Ron her binoculars.

"Wait here, I have an idea," she said. Ron looked a little bemused, but shrugged it off and turned back to Harry. He seemed to be holding on for dear life, and more than just the three of them noticed. Soon other Gryffindor players were watching curiously and calling out Harry's name, as if that would help the poor boy out.

"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered.

"She better be quick, he's going to fall off that broom any minute now." Ron frowned as he realized that the other boy's words were quite true. A second later, flames erupted in the general area where Snape and some other teachers were sitting. Everyone looked up to see that Harry's broom was stilled.

"Go! Go! Go!" Hagrid called.

"Come on, Harry!" Max shouted. Harry suddenly dove to the ground and stood on his broom, ready to catch the little golden ball. A second later, he flipped over and was suddenly on the ground. The whole audience gasped and there was a collective pause as everyone watched him stand up. Harry gagged a couple of times and Hagrid raised an eyebrow.

"He looks like he's going to be sick!" he pointed out. A second later, he spit out the snitch and held it in his hands.

"He's got the snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the golden snitch!"

"Gryffindor Wins!" The entire stadium erupted in cheers with the exception of the Slytherins, and soon a bunch of students were rushing out onto the field to cheer Harry on.

* * *

Vanessa sighed as she finished practicing the new Charm that Professor Flitwick taught them in class. After Gryffindor won, the whole Slytherin house was miserable. Even Pansy wasn't here usual annoying self. Still annoying, but not as bad.

"Care for some company?" A voice called out in the darkness. Vanessa looked up in the dark dungeon and sighed.

"Not really. I was planning on heading to bed soon," she admitted, hoping he would go away. He was only her friend because she didn't really know who else to stick with.

"Oh…" His blonde hair almost seemed to glow in the low light of the candle as he took a seat across from her in one of the armchairs.

"Not the confident jerk you usually are," she pointed out. He shrugged.

"The fact that you believe it makes you the bigger fool," he countered. Vanessa started packing up her stuff, completely oblivious to his words.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

"'I'm only like that because I'm a Malfoy and I have a reputation to uphold," he explained. Vanessa stopped packing up to look at him.

"So you're trying to tell me that you're not really a jerk?" She asked, not believing him. Draco chuckled.

"Well, I am kind of a jerk. But I only act like a git because it's how I was raised," he defended. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"That's a pretty level headed thing to say for someone who was 'raised' to be a twat," she pointed out. Draco nodded and placed his feet on the coffee table now that her things were gone.

"And you're pretty mature for an eleven year old, but what can you do," he replied. They sat in silence for a few minutes as her candle began to burn down low.

"You're not so bad, I suppose," she stated. Draco nodded.

"I'm a lot better than most of the guys in this school," he said proudly, giving her his trademark sneer. Vanessa just chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Were you raised to be this cocky too?" She asked. Draco chuckled as he rose from his seat.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He challenged before walking away. Vanessa sighed before blowing out her candle. Maybe Draco wasn't as bad as she originally thought.

* * *

"Great going, Harry!" Max congratulated for at least the tenth time that night. Harry smiled proudly.

"If you hadn't pushed me to do that move when we practice, I probably wouldn't have caught the snitch," he admitted. Max gave him a pat on the back, unable to hide the smile on his face.

"Maybe, but there might have been a chance later on in the game. Point is, Gryffindor won and this is the perfect chance for me to rub it in Vanessa's face," he said with his sly smile. Hermione shook her head.

"You know, normally you're a pretty respectful and chivalrous guy, but whenever it comes to Vanessa, you act like such a child," she pointed out. Max nodded.

"We grew up together and she's like my sister. That's kind of how you treat your siblings," he explained. Hermione and Harry exchanged confused glances as Max realized the error of his ways.

"We're kind of both only children…" Hermione trailed off. Ron finally decided to interject.

"Well, I've got plenty of siblings and Max is right, the worse you treat your siblings, the more love there is!" He exclaimed. Max nodded.

"For once, I agree with you." The two boys laughed as Hermione turned back to Harry.

"That makes no sense at all…"

* * *

"Nonsense, why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?" Hagrid said as he tended to his garden.

"Who knows? Why was he trying to get past the three-headed dog on Halloween?" Harry exclaimed. Hagrid's eyes went wide as he stopped what he was doing.

"Who told you about Fluffy?" Hagrid asked quickly, his eyes shifting between the four preteens.

"Fluffy?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows in shock.

"That thing has a name?" Hermione asked in disbelief. The memory of the frightening three-headed dog was still fresh in her memory.

"You know, that's what my mum wanted me to name Mask," Max interjected, but closed his mouth as the rest of the group shot him a glare.

"Well of course he's got a name! He's mine! I bought him off an Irish feller I met down at the pub last year. Then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-" Hagrid stopped himself, realizing that he said too much. But the anxious look on Harry's face only get more determined.

"Yes?" He asked, trying to sway the half-giant into continuing his sentence.

"I shouldn't have said that," he mumbled, bringing a hand to his face in shame. Max shrugged.

"You shouldn't have, but you did. Now come on, don't leave us hanging!" Max tried, but Hagrid just shook his head.

"No more questions! Don't ask anymore questions! That's top secret, that is!" Hagrid said, having a mini-freak out. Max sighed.

"So much for that," he mumbled, but Harry wasn't giving up so soon.

"But Hagrid, whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal it," Harry tried to reason, but his words only seemed to drive Hagrid farther away from telling them anything.

"Codswallop! Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher!" He exclaimed, defending the Potions Master. Hermione decided to step in.

"Hogwarts teacher or not, I know a spell when I see one! I've read all about them. You've got to keep eye contact and Snape wasn't blinking!" She reasoned, trying to convince Hagrid that Snape wasn't the innocent teacher that he believed.

"Exactly," Harry said, trying to back Hermione up.

"Seriously, get your own facts and stop trying to play off hers," Max mumbled as he took a seat on Hagrid's stoop.

"Now listen to me, all four of you, you're meddling in things that ought not be meddled in. It's dangerous! What that dog is guarding is strictly between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel," Hagrid told them, trying to get them to forget the subject entirely. However, his words only proved to draw them in even more.

"Nicholas Flamel?" All of them got a confused look on their faces.

"I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that," he mumbled. He began to walk away and the four of them looked at each other.

"Who is Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked. Hermione shrugged and shook her head.

"I don't know…"

* * *

"Daphne, have you seen my book?" Vanessa asked.

"Did you check under your bed?" Tracey asked. Vanessa looked under her bed and smiled when she saw it.

"Tracey, you're the best. Just don't tell Daphne," she said, picking it up and placing it in her trunk.

"Hey!" Vanessa laughed and closed up her things. The three of them had grown quite close when they all ganged up on Pansy for getting them detentions with Snape. Though she still hung out with Draco every once in a while, she did enjoy getting away from all the Gryffindor bashing. While Tracey and Daphne didn't particularly like Gryffindors, they simply let them be and laugh when the others pulled a prank.

"I cannot wait to go home!" Vanessa said, dropping her trunk on the ground and wrapping a scarf around her neck.

"Excited for Christmas?" Daphne asked, doing the same. Tracey was staying home for the break, but was helping both girls pack.

"And my birthday! Daddy always takes me out to Diagon Alley and takes me shopping."

"When is your birthday?" Tracey asked.

"December twenty-seventh. Oh no… I need to meet Max. Have a happy Christmas, Tracey!" Vanessa said. Daphne said goodbye and the two girls made their way out from the dungeons. Instead of going to the great hall with her, Daphne decided to leave immediately and left Vanessa to find Max. She found him talking to his group of Gryffindors and she made her way over.

"Change of plans. My parents have decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there," Ron said. Vanessa stopped next to Max and smiled at him, then gave a small nod to Hermione.

"Hello, Vanessa. Going home for break?" Hermione asked. Vanessa nodded.

"Yes. Mum and Dad want to hear all about school, apparently letter's aren't enough." Max chuckled, knowing her parents all too well.

"Hope you have fun cursing little children and stealing chocolate frogs from babies," Ron muttered.

"Would you like me to test a few curses out on you? I wouldn't want to be rusty when attacking children, Wesley," she hissed. Ron shot her a look, but said nothing in return.

"Be nice," Max hissed. Vanessa rolled her eyes and leaned against her trunk.

"If you're staying here for Christmas you can help Harry. He's going to look in the library for information on Nicholas Flamel." Ron looked exasperated and shot his best friend a look.

"We've looked a hundred times!" he mumbled. Hermione leaned forward and smiled.

"Not in the restricted section… Happy Christmas," she said. Vanessa smiled widely and followed the girl out of the great hall.

"Miss Granger, I have a feeling we might actually be great friends. Just don't tell my parents you're a muggle-born," she said. Hermione raised an eyebrow and walked with her to the carriages leading to the station.

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

"Maximilian! Oh, my baby boy! We've missed you!" Nicole said, scooping her boy up in her arms. Max blushed a light red, but hugged his mother back.

"I've missed you too, mum," he muttered. As if she had been bitten, she pulled back.

"Excuse me, if you're going to have that attitude about it, you can just go back to that school," she said. Max looked over his mother's shoulder to see his father trying to resist bursting out into laughter.

"I'm sorry, mum. I really did miss you though," he said, this time not muttering it. Nicole smile, pleased at his response.

"Good. Now, your grandmother is coming up this weekend for Christmas so we're going to clean the house. You know what that means…" Nicole trailed off as Max groaned.

"She doesn't go in my room! Why do I have to clean it?" Max whined in protest, but one glare from his mother silenced him. Charles burst out laughing, unable to hold it in anymore.

"If you can get that room of yours cleaned today, then you can hang out with Vanessa until Grams gets here," he said. Max smiled and rushed off towards the car.

"What are we waiting for?"

* * *

"There she is!" Vanessa smiled at the familiar tone of her father's voice. Moments later, his dark flaming red hair came into view. Next to him, her mother stood tapping her foot impatiently.

"Hey mum, hey daddy!" She said as she ran towards her father, his arms outstretched and waiting for her.

"We were worried about you, princess," he said, using one of his many pet names for her.

"We saw Max get off the train about five minutes ago, but you weren't with him and we were worried," Anna said as Vanessa turned from her father to her.

"I lost something on the train," she admitted. Her father chuckled.

"Another brush?" He asked. Vanessa shook her head, remembering the letter she sent to her parents about the missing brush that Max found.

"No, this time it was my wand." Anna and Daniel exchanged looks.

"You lost your wand?" Anna asked, trying to control her temper.

"I found it though!" She replied quickly, knowing how her parents sometimes got.

"And where was it?" Daniel asked as his daughter's cheeks went red. He found the whole situation rather amusing, unlike his wife. Perhaps it was just because his baby had finally come home or the Christmas spirit had finally caught up to him, but Daniel felt great. Anna, on the other hand, did not share his amusement. Vanessa mumbled something as she looked down at her shoes.

"Excuse me?" Her mother asked, lifting her daughter's chin up. Vanessa gave her mother a guilty half-smile.

"It was behind my ear," she admitted. Daniel burst out laughing, but quickly restrained himself with one look from his wife.

"Vanessa Anne Cook, you scare me sometimes," Anna muttered. Vanessa ignored her mothers comment and let her father lead her out of the station.

"Come on, let's get home before you forget something else," he said. Vanessa chuckled but Anna rolled her eyes.

"Don't tempt her, she might do it just to get on my nerves," she snapped.

"Oh mother, would ever do that to you?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes…" Vanessa paused an looked down in mock shame.

"You're right… oh well. Did you make cookies?"

_**

* * *

**_

Jeck:

_Well, we don't really have reviews yet to respond to.  
__**Raxsah: **__I don't think that's possible. I mean… it'd be weird to respond to a review to a story that hasn't even been published yet. It's like… our readers are reading our minds. But they haven't so no worries. Can you tell I've had a bit too much sugar?  
__**Jeck: **__Word, my home dawg. On another note, we'd like your opinion. Fangirl rants, criticism, ideas, etc. will be accepted. If you flame us, I will eat your children. All of them, not just the first born.  
__**Raxsah: **__I won't… just because I'm not into the whole eating babies thing. Though we'd like your feed back. Characters might be a little out of their character, and it might be AU sometimes but… we like to write, and this is what we came up with. So there! But let us know what you think, what you predict for the future. We'd love to know.  
__**Jeck: **__For the record, no, I don't like Ron. However, I'm trying to not let that affect how I write him. You know, other than the fact he's an asshole and treats his friends like shit.  
__**Raxsah: **__Don't worry, I'm trying to make up for it. Because I like Ron. He always ends up coming back. Then again, I'm also someone who thinks Draco is just misunderstood.  
__**Jeck: **__This is can see. I like Draco. I just think he is the way he is because of his family. Ron… has no excuses.  
__**Raxsah: **__We're not having this conversation. Don't worry, I already have a few scenes where he won't be too bad. I will save Ron from Jeck's wrath. But yes, leave a review, we appreciate it. We could use the support while we're struggling at College.  
__**Jeck: **__Can we not talk about college? I'd prefer not to think how miserable I'm going to be in 8 hours… readers, review. Writers? Time for bed soon, me thinks. We do apologize, but because of classes and the limited time we can talk to each other and write, updates will not be happening every Sunday. Not that we did a good job with that anyway. Expect maybe once a month, two if you're lucky.  
__**Raxsah: **__Believe me, if we are getting together via IM, we'll probably be writing. But we have yet to know how many times we'll actually be able to talk to each other. Sadly.  
__**Jeck: **__I've got a mad crazy schedule. Monday and Wednesdays are extremes, so we know those are out. But people in my dorm keep throwing these random parties. Which is why we're updating so late. Steelers party.  
__**Raxsah: **__And I have no life. My days are spent studying and looking for a job. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Much more is on the way. Later lovelies.  
__**Jeck: **__To our new readers, this may come as a shock to you. For our faithful readers, this is not new. ZOMBIE SEX FACE! :D_


	2. We Weren't Born To Follow

_**Raxsah:** Another week, another chapter. Though, in all honesty, we didn't post one last week. Did we?_  
_**Jeck: **No, no we didn't. But we're here now. And that's all that matters. Things have been getting busy for us, mostly Raxsah. She gots a job now. :D_  
_**Raxsah:** Yes, yes she does. That with the addition of school and chores makes it very hard to write and update. Though, not having my laptop doesn't help much either._  
_**Jeck:** Her laptop decided to be a bitch. And like... die? I don't even know. I've been busy picking fights with girls on my floor. Fun, fun, fun._  
_**Raxsah:** All-in-all, saying we've been busy would be an understatement. But we're here, with another chapter of Potter goodness. Well... Max and Vanessa goodness really. Harry isn't the favorite in this story._  
_**Jeck: **Like... if I listed the 3 of them, Harry would be in the middle. Hermione would come in first and Ron would come in dead last. Thus, we wrote him as such. He gets a bit better later. Right now, Ron is just poisoning his mind._  
_**Raxsah:** Everyone is a jerk when they're little, Ron just needs a kick to the head. Or an angry Slytherin girl with a hex happy wand who never misses an opportunity to pour juice on him or hex him into the hospital wing. Oh wait, we might have one of those. ;D_  
_**Jeck: **Good, good. Like... I think he still acts like a douche when he gets older. But apparently since he looks hotter, it's okay. -.- I don't judge. Okay, that's a lie. I do judge. I judge fairly though._  
_**Raxsah: **I don't like him just because he's hot. I like him because he always comes back, even when Harry's a little bitch to him. We're not getting into this argument. We've had it so many times it's a bit frustrating. I will make sure he's not a complete idiot. Though sometimes it helps the story a bit._  
_**Jeck:** We've all got that friends who acts like a douche sometimes. Raxsah and I have many of them. :)_  
_**Raxsah:** Sadly. Anyway, This is the rest of year one. It is full of awesomeness and all that jazz._  
_**Jeck:** Well yeah, they know that. We wrote it, therefore it is made of pure awesomeness! And I'm being quite modest, I'll have all you readers know! ;D Anyway, enjoy!_

_

* * *

_**Year One**

**Chapter 2: We Weren't Born To Follow**

* * *

"Max! Vanessa is here!" Max looked up from the Quidditch magazine he was reading and ran out of the room and down the stairs, where Vanessa was handing her coat to a house elf.

"Nessa! You're here!" he said, hugging her. She chuckled lightly and waited for him to release her.

"I brought cookies, me and the house elves made them. Don't tell my mom though, she'd flip if I told her I was hanging with the elves again," she said. Max took the cookies and immediately popped one in his mouth.

"Come on, I'm sure mum would love to see you," he said, talking through the cookies. Vanessa scrunched her nose at his behavior, but followed him into the living room, where his mother was knitting.

"Hello Mrs. Freeman!" Vanessa said. Nicole smiled at the young girl as she made her way in by the fire, probably to warm up.

"Hello Vanessa, I would be lying if I said I didn't expect you to be here," she said.

"I wanted to stop by before Christmas, and before Nana Freeman gets here." Max gave a small groan of anguish when he was reminded of his grandmother. He loved her to death, but she had gotten a bit crazy ever since his grandfather died. That, and she was under the impression that he and Vanessa were going to be married any day now, at eleven.

"Ah, well good thing you came when you did, Max just finished cleaning his room," Nicole said.

"Oh… I should probably clean mine. Mum said she wants it spotless for the New Years Eve party. You still coming?" Vanessa asked. Max nodded and then looked at his mom for confirmation.

"Yes, we will still be attending. Formal affair as always?" Vanessa nodded, but her face fell a bit. Another year of wearing a stupid dress that would probably rip and get her into trouble.

"Of course, my parents wouldn't want anything less," she replied. Nicole smiled as she returned back to her knitting.

"Good, good. Max and I will have to go out and get him some new dress robes for the occasion," she said. Max groaned and grabbed Vanessa's arm.

"Let's go before she makes me getting new dress robes for when Grams gets here," he mumbled. Nicole's eyes shot up.

"That's a perfect idea!" Max tugged Vanessa out of the room as she waved good-bye to his mother.

"Bye Mrs. Freeman."

* * *

"Please?" Max asked, but Vanessa picked up his discarded Quidditch magazine.

"No," she said, pretending to glance over the articles.

"Pretty please?" Max tried again, but Vanessa just shook her head.

"No."

"Don't leave me here with that woman!" He pleaded, dropping down to his knees. Vanessa threw the magazine to the side and sighed.

"She's just coming up for the weekend. Besides, it's my birthday!" She reminded him.

"We can celebrate it here!" He offered, trying to get her to stay.

"You know she thinks that we're going out and that we're going to get married one day," she pointed out. Max groaned, remembering the last time she was over when Grams had been there.

"We can tell her that I'm gay if you want," he suggested, but Vanessa just folded her arms.

"And how much will your mother like that?" She said, trying to get Max to think for once. Normally, she'd be up for raising hell. However, she only really liked to do it in her own house. The last thing she needed was to be scolded by her best friend's parents.

"Well, I bet my dad would think it's pretty funny," Max said, trying to change the topic.

"But your mother wouldn't," Vanessa said. Max shrugged and decided it was best to avoid this conversation for now.

"True, true. Hey, do you want to go to Hermione's house with me this weekend?" Max asked as he jumped onto his bed next to Vanessa, picking up his magazine.

"Your girlfriend?" Vanessa asked with a sly smile.

"Shut up."

"And why can't you go by yourself?" Vanessa asked.

"Pureblood visiting a muggle-born by himself, seems a bit strange," he said, trying to get his point across.

"Two purebloods visiting a muggle-born doesn't sound too much better," she countered. Max just smiled.

"Or two purebloods spending the day together in town and they just happen to stop by a friend's house."

"She's your friend, Max… what if she wants me to meet her parents," she mumbled.

"You are such a bigot. Come on, please? We can go when Nana comes to visit and then avoid her all together," he pointed out.

"You really think that'll work?" he shrugged and nudged her.

"Maybe… come on. I promised I would visit since we don't live too far from her, and you know you like her. She's like the Gryffindor Muggle-born version of you!" She gave a frustrated groan and ran a hand through her hair.

"Fine… but don't expect me to like it."

* * *

Max flinched slightly upon seeing his grandmother step through the fireplace. Her robes were brand new and colored purple, however, they were inside out, causing him to give his father a look. Charles gave a heavy sigh and smiled at his mother.

"Mum, I'm so glad you could make it," he said, kissing her cheek. She smiled and patted his head.

"Oh Charlie, I just came from a lovely villa in Italy. You must take the family for a trip there! I know a man, Dante, oh the things that man can do with his-"

"Matilda, how lovely to see you!" Nicole said, interrupting the woman before she could say anything in front of the two children. Vanessa and Max just exchanged looks before Vanessa shrugged and looked toward the older woman.

"Oh, Maximilian! How lovely to see you! And you've brought your betrothed, Miss Cook. You look smashing my dear. Have you picked out your wedding dress yet?" she asked.

"Hello Grams… uh…" Max trailed off, not sure what else to say. Luckily, Vanessa seemed to have an answer.

"No, Madam Freeman. Mum says it's inappropriate for eleven year old girls to be worried about marriage," she answered politely. Matilda Freeman scoffed and handed her cloak to a house elf.

"Nonsense. I suppose I will have to wait yet another year for this marriage. Such a shame, I was really hopping for some great-grandchildren soon." Vanessa had to force herself not to gag as Max flinched.

"Well, uh… mum, you said it was alright for us to go into town for a while?" Max asked. Nicole looked over to her mother-in-law, who was now telling her son about the lovely time she had on one of the muggle nude beaches she found. She then turned back to her son.

"Yes, you may go. Be careful, make sure you have your wands with you," she said. Max nodded and took a hold of Vanessa's cloak, leading her out of the house.

"Bloody hell… she get's crazier and crazier every year, I swear."

* * *

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Vanessa asked as Max searched through the crowded streets of London, searching for the street to take them to the Granger household.

"Um, I know she said it was around here somewhere," he mumbled, mostly to himself. Vanessa sighed and pulled her robes closer around her body. It was bloody cold outside this time of year.

"Do you have the address at least?" She asked. Max nodded as he searched through his pockets.

"Yeah, I've got it… right… here…" Max trailed off when he realized said slip of paper containing Hermione's address was gone.

"Right where?" Vanessa asked as she turned to look at Max. Max checked his pockets again, but he still couldn't find the paper.

"Um… I think I lost it," he finally admitted. Vanessa sighed.

"Of all the things to lose, you lose her bloody address!" Vanessa cried out. As if on cue, a head of a bushy brown hair appeared around one of the corners down the street.

"Max! Vanessa!" Max gave a sigh of relief as Hermione ran up to them.

"See, not a problem. I had it under control the whole time," he said confidently as Hermione stopped before them. She turned to look at Vanessa.

"What is he going on about?" She asked. Vanessa shrugged.

"Something about male egotism."

* * *

"Welcome to my home! I know it's not much, but it's cozy," Hermione said as they entered the Granger house. It looked nothing like the Freeman and the Cook households, with house elves swarming everywhere like bugs and the moving paintings along the walls.

"Well, this is sure… different," Max admitted. Hermione looked over at them.

"Is it really all that different from your homes?" She asked shyly. Vanessa nodded.

"Oh yeah, a lot different," she confirmed. Hermione nervously rubbed her arm as Vanessa looked around.

"Something wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Where are the house elves? They need to take my jacket," Vanessa said. Max sighed as he pulled off his own robes.

"Sorry, she's not used to doing things on her own," he apologized. Hermione nodded.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't realize how different it would be for you guys. Here, let me take those," she said, taking the two preteens' jackets.

"Who takes the coats? And who does the chores? Blimey, who makes your dinner?" Vanessa asked, completely amazed.

"Um, usually I do. Muggles don't have house elves to do work for them. It's like slavery and that's outlawed in London for muggles," Hermione explained as she hung their jackets up on the coat rack behind the door.

"House elves are outlawed in the muggle world? Max, it's horrible!" Max rolled his eyes.

"Vanessa, just because you're a spoiled princess doesn't mean everyone is," he muttered. She frowned and looked around the house once more.

"So… you clean this house by yourself? Wow… it's so… clean." Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"I mean… I can never clean my room as well as my house elves, and your house looks so… perfect!" she said.

"I don't know about perfect…" Before she could say anything else, a woman entered the room and smiled at them.

"Oh, hello! You must be Hermione's friends!" she said. She walked over and gave Max a hug, then turned toward Vanessa. The look on her face was almost priceless as she tried to get over the fact that this muggle woman was touching her. Sure, she was nicer than some of her fellow Slytherins, but that doesn't mean she was all that different.

"You must be Max and Vanessa, it is a pleasure to meet you," she said. Vanessa seemed to be frozen as she looked at the woman.

"Sorry about her, she's not used to muggles," Max said.

"You don't have any house elves," Vanessa stated. Mrs. Granger smiled and chuckled lightly.

"I'm not sure what a house elf is, but no, I don't have any." Vanessa shook her head and looked at the floor.

"Wow…" Mrs. Granger looked at Max and smiled.

"Would you like some tea? I just put a pot on. Do witches and wizards like tea?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am, we like tea," Max said, a small smile on his lips.

"Oh, well let me get some," she said. Vanessa tilted her head.

"By yourself?" she asked shocked. Mrs. Granger smiled, but looked a little confused.

"Well… yes, who would help me?"

"The elves!" Mrs. Granger looked at Hermione, who seemed to find the whole thing amusing.

"I'll explain later," Hermione promised.

"Well… I'm off to get the tea." She turned toward the kitchen and walked in, leaving the kids alone. After a moment, Vanessa shook her head.

"I have to see this…" She moved past the two of them and into the kitchen, causing Mrs. Granger to jump a little.

"Oh… hello."

"Bloody hell! You really are getting it by yourself!" Max couldn't hold back the laughter anymore and began to join Hermione at laughing at his naïve friend.

"This is a new experience for her," he explained.

"Oh, I can tell," she replied, watching as Vanessa practically stalked her mother.

"How come you're not like her, if you don't mind me asking," Hermione said. Max smiled.

"Well, I do rely a bit too much on my house elves, but I always wanted to play with the muggle children growing up. So I kind of paid a bit more attention than she did," he explained. Hermione nodded.

"Fair enough."

* * *

"Max, can you believe it? Hermione started a fire all by herself!" Vanessa cried out. Max sighed.

"Okay, it was funny at first, but this is just plain annoying," he muttered, but Vanessa didn't hear him.

"It's so unbelievable. Did you see that metal machine that Mr. Granger controlled? He was totaling owning it! Oh man, I can't wait to get home and try to make tea like Mrs. Granger!" She squealed excited. Max grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"That's great, Nessa, but you promised to spend the night," he reminded her. Vanessa stopped.

"What? No, I didn't!" She replied, snapping out of her daze. Max nodded.

"Yes, you did. When Mr. Granger was explaining to you what a dentist did, I asked if you wanted to spend the night. And you told me, 'yeah, sure,'" he told her. Vanessa paused, recalling the event.

"I thought you asked if I wanted more tea!" Max sighed and placed a hand over his face.

"No… Vanessa, I did not ask you if you wanted more tea," he mumbled. She looked confused for a moment before looking back at him.

"Then who put more tea in my cup?"

"Hermione did."

"I didn't see her! Wow… muggles are so… strange," she said. Max smiled and continued to make their way toward his house. It was better than her saying they were disgusting.

"So… are you going to spend the night?" he asked. She shrugged and tightened her cloak.

"Sure, I want to be home early though. Daddy said he was going to take me out tomorrow instead of my birthday because my grandfather s coming to visit from Ireland," she said.

"Oh really? He should meet my Grams, wouldn't that be fun?" he asked. Vanessa flinched slightly at the thought.

"Let's just hope they never meet. That would be scary." Vanessa nodded and smiled as the house elf took her jacket. She hoped her grandfather never met his grandmother. That would just be awkward.

* * *

"Vanessa Anne Cook! What in the name of Merlin's beard have you done to yourself?" Anna asked, looking down at her daughter. Vanessa was sitting upon on of the counters, holding a wet cloth to her hand. She was shocked to see her daughter in such a state, especially the night before the New Years Eve party and with her grandfather here. The girl was going to be the end of her.

"I didn't mean to, it was an accident!" she said, tears in her eyes. Anastasia shot her daughter a look, already knowing they were fake. She might have fooled her father, but she was not Daniel.

"What did you do?" She walked over and took a hold of her hand, looking over her palm which was quite red and slightly swollen.

"I burned myself on the tea pot," Vanessa said, silencing her tears immediately. Anna gave her daughter a strange look then turned to the house elf.

"How could you let her do that? Slacking off were you?"

"No mom, I wanted to make the tea. Deedee told me to leave it alone, but I wanted to try it on my own," Vanessa said, defending her house elf.

"What… why would you try and do that?" Anna asked.

"The Grangers make it on their own." There was a silence before Anastasia Cook looked at her daughter.

"Who are the Grangers?" she asked, her tone suddenly going cold. Vanessa turned pale and slipped off of the counter.

"No one. Man I'm feeling better. I should go see grandpa. Bye mom!" She was out the door before Anna could say anything else, causing her to shake her head and run a hand through her short brown hair.

"That child will be the death of me. I swear."

* * *

"Almost got busted by your mum?" Max asked as the house elves took his coat. His parents were already making their way into the main foyer of the house as Vanessa sighed.

"I just wanted to try it," Vanessa admitted as Max followed her up to her room. Her purple dress trailed behind her, her mother's voice practically ringing through her ears about getting it hemmed properly. Max pulled on his tie a bit as they reached the top of the stairs.

"And how did that go?" He asked, noticing the silk gloves covering her hands.

"Could have gone better, I'll admit. But it was really cool trying it for the first time," she said excitedly. Max grabbed one of her gloved hands and watched her wince.

"Could have gone better? Blimey, would did you do?" He asked. Vanessa pulled her hand back and gently slipped her glove off. The swelling had gone down, but blisters covered her palm.

"Well, I learned what not to do next time," she said as she put her silk light purple glove back on.

"Pouring the scolding hot water on your hand?" He asked with a playful smirk.

"No, grab it by the sides. Obviously," she muttered. Max shook his head, but followed her as they continued to her room.

"Did you notice who joined us tonight?" He asked. Vanessa froze as the realization hit her.

"Oh no…"

"She didn't want to leave after the weekend," Max mumbled as they entered her room and he took a seat on her bed, yanking his tie off.

"Why?" She said as she sat next to him, slipping off her heels. Formal attire was such a pain.

"Something about losing her apartment," Max muttered, falling backwards.

"Hey, my mum just had me make that," she snapped, noticing the sheets were all messed up. Max didn't even move.

"Sorry."

* * *

Anna looked around the party, trying to find her daughter's dark red hair.

"Where has that girl disappeared to now?" She mumbled to her husband. Daniel looked around as well.

"Well, the Freemans are here so she's probably run off somewhere with Max," Daniel suggested. Anna placed her glass of champagne down.

"That girl is a host at this party and should be here socializing with our guests," Anna said before walking away. Daniel took a sip of his own drink.

"Fair enough."

* * *

"Vanessa! VANESSA ANNE COOK!" Vanessa sighed and sat up on her bed. Her and Max were playing a quick game of Wizard's chess.

"Told you we couldn't hide for very long," he mumbled as Mrs. Cook entered the room.

"Where are your manners? Your Uncle Walter has just arrived and you haven't even welcomed the Petersons. Come on now. And Max, I believe your grandmother was looking for you."

"Yes, Mrs. Cook, thank you," Max said, getting off the bed. Anna smiled and turned toward her daughter.

"I know I raised you to be a better host than that. Now come along, your Uncle Walter wants to hear all about your first term at Hogwarts," Anna said, taking her purple gloved hand in her own black one.

"Do I have to? Uncle Walter is trying to get me to date Gregory's friend, Vincent. I don't want to date him, he smells like chicken," Vanessa said. Max snorted as he placed his coat back on and followed the two of them out of her room and down the stairs.

"Be nice! You don't have to worry. There is no way my daughter would ever date someone as low as a Crabbe," Anna hissed. Vanessa sensed her mothers sudden hostility and didn't say another word.

"Ah, Anastasia, wonderfully smashing to see you," a voice called. Vanessa looked over and resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she saw Max's grandmother make her way over.

"Matilda, how was your holiday?" Anna asked.

"Quite lovely thank you. How is your husband? I saw him earlier, but he seemed a bit busy."

"He's quite fine. Excuse us, please," Anna said. Matilda nodded and took a hold of her grandson's shoulder.

"You're lucky Vanessa didn't turn out like her mother. She's not as pleasant as she used to be," Matilda said. Max raised an eyebrow and looked at Vanessa's mother as she practically shoved her into a group of her family members. It was hard to see her mother as anything, but pushy, but he took her word for it.

* * *

Max placed another kiss on his mother's cheek as he looked back at the train. If he didn't hurry soon, they would surely miss it.

"Mum, I promise I will write, I just need to go first," he said. Nicole sighed and kissed the top of his head once more.

"Please try and stay out of trouble Maximilian. I know it's hard for you sometimes, but try your best." Max rolled his eyes and hugged his dad.

"By dad," he said. Charles hugged his son and ruffled his hair.

"Have fun!" Max nodded and quickly went toward the train before they kept him back any longer. As he headed toward the train, he stopped and watched as Vanessa said goodbye to her family.

"Bye Princess, be sure to do well in your classes. We want nothing, but the best," Daniel said, smiling at his daughter.

"Of course, I'll miss you daddy!" she said, hugging him tightly. Daniel kissed the top of her head and handed her off to her mother, who grabbed her wrists.

"Vanessa, be good sweetheart, make sure you get your hands looked at before you start class, and please… no more tea pots." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry Mum, I've learnt my lesson. It's best to leave the tea to the house elves," Vanessa said. Anna rolled her eyes, but kissed her cheek all the same.

"Have fun, say hello to Professor Snape for us," she said. The thought of telling her head of house hello, or just speaking to him in general, made her feel awkward, but she nodded all the same.

"Alright. Bye mum! Bye Daddy!" She quickly ran with her cart over to Max and smiled.

"Hey, Nessa… have fun after New Years?" he asked. Vanessa shrugged and followed him onto the train, dropping off their stuff first.

"I did, actually. Grandpa took me to France for the day and bought me a few new books," she said, following him into an compartment.

"You're so spoiled," Max commented. Vanessa shot him a look, but couldn't deny the statement. She just shrugged.

"Maybe, but I have fun all the same." Before another word was spoken between them, the doors opened and Hermione walked in.

"Hello!" Max said, smiling brightly.

"Hello, did you all enjoy your holiday?" she asked.

"It was… interesting," Max said. Hermione nodded and looked over at Vanessa, then down at her hands.

"What on earth happened to your hands?" Vanessa looked down at both her hands covered in gauze. After her first attempt at brewing tea, she figured she'd give it one last shot, only to have the same result happen to her other hand. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as the first time and would heal up in a day or two.

"Despite what you muggles think, it is quite difficult to make tea." Hermione was silent for a minute before she bust out laughing.

"I think it's best if you stick to your house elves," Hermione said. Vanessa nodded and leaned back into her chair.

"No worries here."

* * *

"It feels good to be back," Max said as they walked through the front door of Hogwarts.

"You're only saying that because your grandmother decided to stay with your family for awhile," Vanessa pointed out as Hermione peered through the crowd.

"Do you see Harry or Ron anywhere?" She asked. Max, standing a little bit taller than her, searched the room.

"Naw, I don't. The only red hair I see are from the twins. Harry and Ron are probably playing a game of chess in the common room," he said as they continued in. Vanessa shot a look over towards the redheaded Weasley twins.

"Oh… cute," she mumbled. Hermione and Max turned around.

"Um… what?" Vanessa shook her head.

"Well, I suppose I'll see you guys later. I'm off to chill with my own people," Vanessa said as she darted through the crowd, vanishing almost instantly.

* * *

Ron smiled triumphantly as his knight took Harry's king.

"Third win in a row," he said proudly. Harry leaned back into his armchair and sighed.

"Why do I keep playing you? I'm never going to win," he mumbled. Ron just smiled.

"Don't hate the player, Harry. Hate the game." Hermione walked into the room.

"Well, I see you two have had a very productive winter break," she said, gesturing to the chessboard.

"Of course, it was…" Ron trailed off and looked at Harry who pressed his lips together.

"Interesting… yours?" he asked.

"It was enjoyable," she said, taking her scarf off. A second later, Max walked in as well and smiled at the group.

"Hello, have fun?" Max asked.

"Yes, it was better than being at the Dursleys," Harry replied. Ron gave a small shrug.

"I missed home, but it was fun."

"How about you?" Harry asked, watching as Ron set up the board again.

"It was lovely… except for the fact my grandmother was there," Max said, sitting on the couch.

"Well glad you two had such a wonderful time," Ron said.

"We did. My parents said it was lovely to meet you and Vanessa, and my mum would love to teach Vanessa how to brew tea next time she visits," she said, a small smile on her face. Both Ron and Harry looked at her shocked.

"You went to visit Hermione? With your Slytherin friend?" Ron asked. Max shrugged.

"She doesn't live too far from Vanessa and I, so we decided to take a trip. It was fun, though… maybe we should avoid showing her anything muggle like until she's a bit older."

"Um… why?" Harry asked. Max began to laugh and shook his head.

"Let's just say she's been bugging the house elves with tea. That's all you need to know."

* * *

Vanessa sighed as she sat in front of the fire in her common room, looking over her new book.

"Have a nice holiday?" a voice asked. She shrugged as the blonde haired boy sat down next to her.

"It was fine, and yours?" she asked. He copied her shrug and took the book she had in her hands, not before stopping and raising an eyebrow at her.

"What happened to your hands?" he asked. Her cheeks turned a light red, but she held her head up high.

"I got in a fight with a tea pot. Why?" she asked. Draco gave her a weird look, but looked at the book anyway.

"What's this?"

"It's called a book, you know… you read from them," she said.

"You're not turning into that Mudblood, are you?" he asked. She lightly shoved him and grabbed her book back.

"No! Leave me and my books alone. If it weren't for my books, you would've failed your charms essay," she pointed out. He shrugged and raised an eyebrow.

"That's why we're friends. I need someone to help me with my homework." Vanessa paused and furrowed her eyebrows.

"We're friends?" she asked.

"Sure… we have… fun." Vanessa thought it over and shrugged. Maybe they were friends. They didn't have the same relationship she had with Max, but as weird as it sounded, she loved to fight with him. He was almost as intelligent as she was, and they were similar enough. She guessed that they were friends.

"Fine, but if we're friends, stop picking on Max and Granger. He's my best friend and he get's all Gryffindor on my ass when you pick on her. So just keep it to a minimum when I'm around," she warned.

"Or what, Vanessa? Are you going to curse me?" he asked, a sly smirk on his face.

"Don't forget I know where you sleep, Malfoy. Just ask Parkinson, she'll tell you how mean I can get." Draco's smirk fell when he remembered the stories that came from the pug-faced girl. He wouldn't past her to do something worse.

"Good point…"

* * *

"I had you looking in the wrong section! How could I have been so stupid?" Hermione said, dropping a huge book on the desk. All three of the Gryffindor boys looked up in shock as she sat down and began flipping through the pages. "I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"This is light?" Ron asked, staring at the giant book. Hermione shot him glare.

"Of course! Here it is!" She said, skimming through the many pages of the book. Max leaned over her shoulder to get a better look, unable to ignore the sweet vanilla scent radiating off her person.

"What have you found?" Harry asked.

"Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone," Hermione read, using her finger to underline the words. Ron raised his eyebrow.

"The what?" He asked.

"Honestly, don't you read at all?" She asked, completely astonished. Ron looked at Harry, who looked at Max.

"Dude, even I knew that one. Didn't you guys do your summer reading?" He asked.

"Um, no. Did you?" Ron replied. Max had a bashful smile.

"Well… no. But Vanessa told me a bunch of stuff about it," he said. Hermione turned to him.

"You know, sometimes you're just as immature as those two," she said, gesturing to Ron and Harry.

"Only sometimes, at least," he said confidently. Hermione shook her head and turned back to the book.

"Anyway, the Sorcerer's Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It will transform any metal into pure gold and produce the Elixir of Life which will make the drinker immortal," she explained, reading word for word from the book.

"Immortal," Ron said breathlessly. Max nodded.

"That'd be what she said," Max said.

"It means you'll never die," she confirmed. Ron shot her a glare.

"I know what it means!" He shot back. Harry turned to his best friend.

"Maybe she meant it towards Max or something," he offered. Max frowned at his words, but Ron smiled a little.

"No, I clearly meant it for Ron," Hermione replied. As if reversed, Max smiled and Ron frowned.

"Just trying to help," Harry mumbled, backing off again.

"Back to the stone, the only one in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist who last year celebrated his 665th birthday," she told them, as if she were teaching a class of five year olds.

"You know, now that you mention it, Nicholas Flamel sounds really familiar…" he mumbled, mostly to himself.

"That's what Fluffy is guarding on the third floor. That's what's under the trap door. The Sorcerer's Stone!"

* * *

"You ever hear of Nicolas Flamel?" Max asked. He ignored the looks of Ron and Harry and waited for Vanessa's response.

"Of course, why?" she asked as she continued to write a few things down on her parchment.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"We were talking about him in front of you and you said nothing," Ron added. Vanessa shrugged while looking up at the boys.

"You never asked. My grandfather knows him," Vanessa explained.

"So you know about the Sorcerer's Stone?" Harry asked. She furrowed her red eyebrows and shook her head.

"Only from what I know from the books. Why? You guys trying to get rich?" she asked.

"No… it's a long story," Max explained. Vanessa gave him a look before going back to her paper.

"You better go do your essay."

"Can't you do it for me? Hermione does Harry and Ron's." Vanessa shot him a cold look and he was immediately reminded how mean she could be.

"You make me write any part of that essay, and I will write a fully detailed story about your favorite doll, which you stole from me by the way, and how you slept with it till you were eight," she hissed. Max paled and stood up.

"We're going to go see Hagrid, I'll talk to you later Nessa," he said, taking a hold of Ron and Harry's sleeve and tugging them away.

"She wouldn't do that… would she?" Harry asked. The girl had been pretty nice for the most part, but she was obviously in Slytherin for a reason.

"Oh she would, and she has. Why do you think I had to rewrite my charms essay?" Ron and Harry exchanged looks before following the other boy out.

* * *

A few hours later, the four Gryffindor students made their way to the front of Hagrid's hut and knocked. A couple seconds the door opened and Hagrid looked down at them.

"Hagrid!" Harry practically shouted.

"Oh, hello. I don't wish to be rude, but I'm not up for entertaining today," he said, closing the door.

"We know about the Sorcerer's Stone!" all four of them practically shouted. The door opened and Hagrid frowned down at them.

"Oh…" he mumbled. He let them in and walked toward his fire.

"We think Snape's trying to steal it," Harry explained.

"Snape? Blimey, you're still on about him, are you?"

"You have to admit he fits," Max pointed out.

"Hagrid, we know he's after the stone, we just don't know why."

"Nonsense, Snape is one of the teachers trying to protect the stone! He's not about to steal it!" The group had a confused look on their faces before Harry spoke.

"What?"

"You heard. Right, now, come on, I'm a bit preoccupied today…" he trailed off.

"With what?" Max asked.

"Stuff…" Max rolled his eyes and looked back to the group.

"Wait a minute! 'One of the teachers'?" Harry asked, once again trying to get more information from Hagrid.

"Of course! There are other things defending the stone, aren't there? Spells, enchantments," Hermione asked, as though she was hit with a realization. She too, tried to get more information out of the half-giant. And luck was on their side.

"Right. Waste of bloody time if you ask me. Ain't no one is going to get past Fluffy. Ain't a soul knows how, except me and Dumbledore," he said, but stopped himself. "I shouldn't have told you that. I should not have told you that."

"But you did. Again," Max mumbled, taking a sip of his tea. Hagrid opened his mouth to reply, but the pot in his fireplace began to shake. Hagrid quickly crossed the room, putting oven mitts on his hand. He quickly reached in and pulled out a dark spotted egg.

"Hagrid, what exactly is that?" Harry asked as the half-giant crossed the room again and set the egg down on the table. He looked around the table at the confused faces of the four preteens.

"Oh that? It's a… it's um…" Ron studied the egg for a minute before he realized what it was.

"I know what that is! But Hagrid, how did you get one?" He asked, completely shocked. Hermione, Harry, and Max turned to look at the redhead, hoping he'd clue them in. However, Ron was more interested in Hagrid's answer.

"I won it! Off a stranger I met in the pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact," he told them proudly, puffing out his chest a little. Max looked down at the egg, completely confused at what the little thing contained. Before he had a chance to ask, the egg began shaking again. The top of the shall cracked and the rest of the egg shell fell apart. A tiny scaly face popped out and stretched it's limbs.

"Is that… a dragon?" Hermione asked, watching the creature crawl out of it's former home. It looked right at Hagrid before looking around the table at the four preteens.

"That's not just a dragon! That's a Norwegian Ridgeback! My brother Charlie works with these in Romania," he said as the dragon turned back to Hagrid.

"Isn't he beautiful? Oh bless him, he knows his mummy! Hello Norbert!" Hagrid said, leaning forward to scratch the dragon under it's chin. It's cooed happily at the action.

"Norbert?"

"Well, he's got to have a name, don't he? Don't you, Norbert?" He continued to pet the dragon, cooing back at it. The dragon pulled back for a second and burped, sending a stream of fire out as well. The fire hit Hagrid's beard and caught the dry curly dark hair on fire. Hagrid quickly patted it out as everyone leaned forward in their seats. Once the fire was out, they let out a sigh of relief.

"Man, that was close," Harry breathed. Max nodded.

"Yeah… can I get one too?" He asked, leaning forward to pet the dragon. Hagrid smiled.

"Sadly, I've only got this one. I don't suppose Dumbledore would be too happy if I got you a dragon anyway. Norbert will have to be trained up a bit, of course," he said, picking the tiny dragon up in his arms. The group watched the creature in amazement before Hagrid turned toward the window.

"Who is that?" he asked. The group turned to the window and frowned at seeing the blonde haired Slytherin.

"Malfoy," Harry hissed. The blonde quickly ran off and there was a pause between the group before Hagrid spoke.

"Oh dear…"

* * *

The group left Hagrid's hut a few minute later and made their way back into the castle.

"Hagrid always wanted a dragon. He told me so the first time I ever met him," Harry explained.

"I want a dragon… you think my parents would get me one?" Max asked.

"Can you get dragons like that?" Hermione asked. Ron shook his head as they continued to walk through the school.

"Usually people just don't carry dragons around with them," Ron said.

"Yet, Hagrid has one," Harry said, finding that statement a little odd. If they were so hard to come by, Hagrid must have been very lucky.

"It's crazy! And what's worse, Malfoy knows," Ron replied. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows at the red headed boy.

"I don't understand. Is that bad?" she inquired.

"It's bad," Ron said. A second later, McGonagall stood in front of them, Malfoy right next to her.

"Really bad," Max added.

"Good evening." McGonagall said. She gestured for them to follow and led them to her classroom, where she lined them up in front of her.

"Nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as a punishment for your actions, fifty points will be taken."

"Fifty?" Harry exclaimed, shocked.

"Each!" The group of four were dumbfounded and looked back at Malfoy, who was smirking at them. "And to ensure it doesn't happen again, the five of you will receive detention," she snapped. Draco took the moment to speak up.

"Excuse me professor, perhaps I heard you wrong… I thought you said the five of us…" McGonagall raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, you heard me correctly Mr. Malfoy. You see, honorable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will join you classmates in detention."

* * *

"Can you believe that Potter and his group of friends?" Draco hissed. Vanessa looked up from her book upon seeing Draco angrily sit down on the couch across from her. Goyle and Crabbe were right behind him, and simply nodded in agreement.

"No, but you didn't have to follow them," she reminded. Draco shot her a look.

"How else was I supposed to get them in trouble?" he snapped. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"One thing I love about myself, on that long list of things that make me amazing, is that I don't leap before I look. You could have sent a letter to Professor McGonagall telling her that you could see them from your window. Though, it probably would have been better to send it to Professor Snape, seeing as he would've done much worse than detention and fifty points," Vanessa reminded him. Draco paused to think it over for a moment before he spoke.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

* * *

"We've got detention tonight with your pal Draco," Max mumbled as he took a seat next to Vanessa in the library. Vanessa looked up from her book.

"No Hermione?" She asked, gesturing to the empty chair next to him. Normally Hermione would end up joining them in the library when they met. It was like her second home.

"She's off writing Harry and Ron's essay over in the Hogwarts history section. So did you hear a word that I said?" Max tried again. Vanessa merely turned the page of her book.

"I did and I'm choosing to ignore it," she mumbled, licking the tip of her finger before flipping another page. Max opened his own book, but kept his eyes on his best friend.

"Why?"

"Because all you do is bitch about my friends and all Draco does is bitch about my other friends. Seriously, go form a Vanessa's friend haters group or something," she said, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. Max shrugged.

"I would do that, but I hate him." They sat in silence for a moment, Vanessa's pale green eyes scanning the page of her book.

"Touché," she mumbled after a few minutes. Again, they sat in silence. Max looked through his book, but slammed it closed.

"Look, I don't hate him, I just don't like him," he muttered, folding his arms over his textbook.

"I understand that. I'm not a fan of seafood, myself. Point is, he's my friend and I'd like you to respect that," she said, finally closing her book.

"I think I can do that," he replied.

"Good boy."

* * *

The small group of kids made their way toward Hagrid's hut, all of them seeming miserable.

"A pity they let the old punishments die. Was a time detention found you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, I'll miss the screaming." All five of the students exchanged looked of terror. Filch however continued on. "You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the Dark Forest. A sorry lot, this, Hagrid." There was a pause where Hagrid was fixing his crossbow and sobbing slightly. "Oh good God you're not still on about that bloody dragon now are you?"

"What happened?" Max asked.

"Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony," Hagrid told them, choking back his tears. Harry tried to pat the half-giant on the shoulder, but the closest he got was Hagrid's lower back.

"Well, that's good isn't it? He'll be with his own kind," Hermione said, trying to cheer their friend up.

"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby after all," Hagrid said, trying to hold himself together. Max scoffed.

"What's not to like? He's a dragon! Dragons are awesome," he said. Flinch sent him a glare before turning back to Hagrid.

"Oh, for God's sake pull yourself together man. You're going into the Forest after all. Got to have your wits about you," he warned. Hagrid nodded as he pulled up his belt, preparing himself for the forest. However, the preteens didn't seem to be as ready as the half-giant.

"Are you serious?" Max asked, completely astonished. He figured Hagrid was going to make them tend to his garden or something.

"The Forest? I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are... Werewolves!" Draco said, trying to keep his voice steady. Harry smiled to his three friends.

"Sounds like Malfoy is afraid of the forest," he whispered to them, but loud enough so that Draco could hear. The blonde boy glared at the four Gryffindors.

"He's got every reason to be. Ah, there's more that werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that. Nighty- night," Flinch said before turning around and heading back to the castle, a lantern in one hand and Mrs. Norris by his heels.

"Right, let's go," Hagrid instructed as he grabbed a lantern of his own that was waiting on a stump by his front door. Harry went to grab the second one, but Draco shoved him to the side and grabbed it.

"Got to be quicker than that, Potter," Draco hissed. Max came up behind Harry and slung him arm around his shoulders.

"Might as well let him have it. Draco probably still sleeps with a night light anyway," Max whispered to him. Harry covered his mouth as he burst out laughing. Draco turned around to glare, but a twig snapping caused him to turn around, holding out the lantern to see. Everyone turned to look at Ron, who winced as he stepped on a broken branch.

"Watch where you're stepping, Weasel!" Draco snapped. Ron shrugged.

"Sorry, but we're not all shaking in our robes at every little thing," he countered. Draco folded his arms and walked closer to Fang. They continued walking through the frightening forest, their eyes peeled for any little thing. At one point, Ron practically jumped into Harry's arms when he thought he saw a spider.

"Very well might have been. There's a fair bit of spiders in the forest," Hagrid confirmed, continuing through the bushes. Draco sneered at Ron.

"At least I'm not afraid of a little teeny weenie spider," he mocked.

"BOO!" Max jumped out from behind a tree, causing Malfoy to drop the lamp and run towards the half-giant. Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn't control their laughter.

"I think Malfoy just wet himself," Harry said happily. Ron gave Max a pat on the shoulder.

"I like you, kid," he said. Max smiled.

"You're not too bad yourself," he agreed. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Boys," she mumbled.

* * *

"Hagrid, what is that?" Harry asked, gesturing to the creature laying on the ground. They approached the creature to see a single horn jetting from the head of the fallen creature.

"What we're here for. See that? That's unicorn blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago. Now, this one's been hurt bad by something. So, it's our job to go and find the poor beast," Hagrid explained, dropping down to his knees and checking the unicorn corpse. He dipped his finger into the small puddle near the corpse and frowned. "Ron, Hermione, you'll come with me." He ordered.

"Okay…" Ron said, sparing the bushy haired girl a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Harry and Max, you'll go with Malfoy," he told them. Draco looked at Harry and Max before turning back to Hagrid.

"Okay, then I get Fang!" He said, gesturing to the dog. Fang was sitting near the corpse, his head between his legs. Upon hearing his name, his head shot up and he looked at all the humans.

"Fine. Just so you know he's bloody coward," Hagrid told them as Fang laid down and placed his paws over his face. Max raised an eyebrow.

"Fair enough. Malfoy and Fang make two pansies then," he said. Harry burst out laughing again, causing the blonde haired boy to shoot him another glare.

* * *

"Wait till my father hears about this! This is servant stuff," Malfoy hissed, walking with them in the forest.

"Oh yeah, go running to daddy Malfoy, real mature," Max snapped. Draco turned toward him and fixed a nasty glare upon him.

"Don't be jealous, Freeman, just because the best your father could do was work for a newspaper doesn't mean you need to blame me," he snapped.

"My dad is a senior editor! And he doesn't even have to work Malfoy. You're dad is in the ministry, big deal! My family knows people in the ministry too!" Max hissed.

"My father has way more pull than your family could ever hope to have. I could have people fired for this," Draco said confidently. Harry glared at him, tired of the bickering.

"If I didn't know better Draco, I'd say you were scared," he pointed out.

"Scared Potter," he paused and there was a sudden howl in the distance, causing the boy to freeze. "Did you hear that?"

"Oh really? Grow up!" Max snapped. Vanessa's friend or not, he hated this kid. Draco rolled his eyes and tugged on.

"Come on, Fang!" Both Gryffindor boys followed him, both quite annoyed with the situation. When they came to a very small clearing, Fang suddenly stopped. Max raised an eyebrow and stood next to the dog.

"The dog is scared?" Malfoy asked.

"What is it, Fang?" Harry inquired. A second later, the boys looked over to see a dark hooded creature hovering over a now dead unicorn. All of them froze, but it was Malfoy who screamed.

"AH!" Harry hissed as Draco turned around left the Gryffindors alone, but not before slamming into Max. He took a step back and fell into the ground, hitting his head against a tree and becoming disoriented. Harry felt his scar burn. It was as if his forehead was on fire as the hooded creature made it's way toward him. He took a few steps back before falling back himself, but thankfully not hitting his head on anything. Just before the creature descended upon him, something jumped over his head and began to chase the thing away. Harry quickly walked over to Max and helped him off the ground.

"You alright?" he asked. Max nodded.

"Yeah, you?" Harry nodded and watched as the half-man half-horse creature made it's way over toward them.

"Harry Potter, you must leave. You are known to many creatures here. The Forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you," he warned. Harry furrowed his eyebrows.

"But what was that thing you saved me from?" The animal looked toward the now dead unicorn and frowned.

"A monstrous creature. It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death. But at a terrible price. For you have slain something so pure that the moment the blood touches your lips you have a half-life, a cursed life," he explained.

"Sounds horrible," Max whispered, too immersed in his own thoughts to say anything else.

"But who would choose such a life?" Harry inquired.

"Can you think of no one?" Both boys were silent before Harry came to the conclusion.

"You mean to say that thing that killed the unicorn, that was drinking its blood, that was Voldemort?" Max shuddered at the name and had to resist the urge to yell at the boy.

"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment, Mr. Potter?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone!"

"Of course!" Max ended. Before anything else could be said a voice cut through the trees.

"Harry! Max!" Hermione called. Hagrid regarded the centaur and gave a small nod.

"Hello there, Firenze. See you've met our young Mr. Potter. All right there Harry? Max?" Both boys nodded and Harry looked back to the creature, who gave him a small bow.

"Harry Potter, this is where I leave you. You are safe now. Good luck."

* * *

"What are you still doing up?" Draco asked, entering the common room. Vanessa looked up and raised an eyebrow at his face. Though he didn't appear to be hurt, he looked like it had been a rough night.

"Well, I have a charm I'm planning on using on Crabbe tomorrow, since he ripped my transfiguration notes to shreds, and I'm trying to perfect it. What happened to you?" Draco sat on the couch next to her.

"They made us go through the bloody forbidden forest, can you believe it? It's completely mental," Draco hissed. Vanessa frowned and smoothed back his slicked back hair.

"Aww, poor Draco. Did you actually have to get your hands dirty?" she asked. Draco pulled her hand away, ignoring the fact that the wonderful smell of cherry blossoms entered his nose.

"I don't know why I tell you anything, you just mock me," he mumbled.

"Aww, poor Draco. Do you feel mocked?" Vanessa began to giggle and Draco lightly pushed her to the side.

"Forget it," he snapped.

"Oh get over it. At least it's over." Draco sighed and leaned against the couch as she continued to try and figure out the charm in her book.

* * *

"You mean, that You- Know- Who is out there right now in the Forest?" Hermione asked from her seat on the couch. Harry nodded as he furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought.

"But he's weak. He's living off of unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong! Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself. He wants the Stone for Voldemort. With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will become strong again. He, he'll come back," Harry explained, trying to hide the panic in his voice. But the more he told his three best friends, the more he was admitting it to himself. And it terrified him.

"But if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to kill you, do you?" Ron asked, terror thick in his voice. Max nodded.

"I don't doubt it," he mumbled. Ron gulped as he turned to look at Harry, who merely nodded in agreement.

"I think if he had his chance he would have tried to kill me tonight," Harry said, dreading the reality of the situation.

"And to think, I've been worrying about my Potions final," Ron mumbled. Max nodded.

"I'm worrying about all of them, frankly. Vanessa needs to help me study," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Hang on a minute. We're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort is always feared? Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore's around, Harry, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore's around you can't be touched," Hermione said, easing Harry's worries. She was right, Dumbledore would protect him. Of that, he was sure.

* * *

"What did you do to Draco?" Vanessa asked as she walked out of her Charms final with Max.

"I didn't do anything to him," he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. Vanessa just shot him a glare.

"I heard him talking to Crabbe and Goyle. Wait… what happened to your head?" For the first time that day, Vanessa caught a glimpse of the white bandage underneath Max's shaggy medium length brown hair.

"Your boyfriend shoved me down and I hit my head on a tree," he mumbled, reaching up to touch the sore piece of flesh. Vanessa frowned.

"Oh… I'm sorry. I should've known that he was lying when he said that the four of you tried to gang up on him," she apologized. Max nodded in agreement, but his eyes were lying. "What?"

"Well, he wasn't completely lying. We did make a fair bit of jokes on how scared he was acting in the forest," he admitted. Vanessa folded her arms.

"Maybe you deserved him shoving you down then."

"What? I almost get a concussion and it's my fault?" he asked.

"Because you can be such a jerk. Honestly Max, you know the kid is a pansy and you torment him anyway. Even I would be afraid of going into that place, then being attacked by you guys and some weird… cloak thing." Max shrugged as they continued to walk to potions.

"Look, what do you want me to say? Sorry? I'm not. He's a jerk," Max hissed. Vanessa sighed and ran a hand through her red hair.

"Still, you don't have to be so mean," she said.

"You're one to talk! I heard what happened to Marcus Flint's robes. Though, I have no idea how you got them to run away from him," he muttered.

"Oh, Hermione helped me with that. I owe her a huge thank you for that. She found the book for me to study it from." Max rolled his eyes and followed his friend into their potions final.

* * *

"I'd heard Hogwarts' final exams were frightful, but I found they're rather enjoyable," Hermione said upon leaving their last class. Max just raised an eyebrow at her. Enjoyable is not the word he would use to describe any exam.

"Speak for yourself. All right there Harry?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, mate… you're looking a little weird," Max added.

"It's my scar, it keeps burning," Harry explained.

"Well… it's happened before," Hermione reminded him.

"Not like this." Ron frowned at his best friend.

"Maybe you should see the nurse," he suggested.

"I'm sure she can make you something for it," Max agreed.

"I think it's a sign, it means danger's coming." Hermione looked a little skeptical, but Max smiled.

"Like danger senses? That's ironic," he said, mumbling the last part. Harry didn't seem to pay attention as he saw Hagrid playing his flute outside his hut.

"Ah. Oh, Of Course!" Hermione tilted her head and the group followed Harry toward the hut.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid want more than anything is a dragon and a stranger turns up and just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't I see it before?" Harry said. The group walked up to the half-giant and Harry gave him no room to make an excuse to leave. "Hagrid, who gave you that dragon egg? What did he look like?"

"I dunno. I never saw his face. He kept his hood up," Hagrid admitted.

"Go figure," Max muttered to Hermione and Ron.

"This stranger though, you and he must have talked," Harry pressed. Hagrid shrugged.

"Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. And I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem." Harry's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he urged the half-giant on.

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Well of course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do you come across three headed dogs do you come across even if you're in the trade?" Hagrid asked.

"Not many, I'd assume," Hermione replied.

"No… not too common in the magical world, that's for sure," Max added. Hagrid nodded and continued on.

"But I told him, I said, I said, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him.' Take Fluffy for example, just play him a bit of music and he falls straight asleep." All four preteens looked shocked and then looked at each other. "I shouldn't have told you that."

"Come on!" Harry said. Hagrid watched as they began to run away.

"Where are you going? Where are you…?" The man trailed off and sighed heavily before entering his hut. He really need to stop telling those four any information.

* * *

The four students stumbled into McGonagall's office as she was grading papers, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore immediately!" Harry exclaimed. The other three nodded and waited for her answer.

"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore's not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London," she explained. All of them looked suddenly worried.

"Wonderful timing," Max said.

"He's gone! But this is important! This is about the Sorcerer's Stone!" McGonagall looked beyond shocked at his words and sat back a little.

"How did you know-?" She was cut off by Harry quickly interrupting her.

"Someone's going to try and steal it!" There was a small pause before Professor McGonagall leaned forward a bit and looked at her four students.

"I don't know how you four found out about the Stone, but I assure you it is perfectly well protected. Now, would you go back to your dormitories quietly." The four of them were silent before exiting the classroom and walking through the halls.

"That was no stranger Hagrid met. It was Snape. Which means that he knows how to get past Fluffy."

"Who would've thought that playing a lullaby was the answer," Max mumbled.

"Bloody mental right?" Ron added.

"With Dumbledore gone-" Hermione was cut off by another voice.

"Good afternoon." All four of them turned to see none other than Professor Snape standing behind them. "Now, what would four young Gryffindors, such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?" He asked. All of them looked at each other before Hermione spoke.

"We were... we were just…" she trailed off and Snape raised an eyebrow at her.

"You'd ought to be careful. People will think you're…" he paused after seeing the look from Harry, "up to something," he finished. Without another word, he turned and left, leaving the group alone.

"What do we do now?" Hermione asked.

"We go down that trap door tonight," Harry said.

"What trap door?" The four of them turned around and saw Vanessa and Rebecca staring at them. Max frowned when he realized the situation they were now in.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Ron sneered. Vanessa narrowed her eyes at him, but looked to Max and Hermione.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Max explained. The two of them simply stared at each other for a moment before Vanessa crossed her arms.

"You know you're a horrible liar, Max Freeman," she pointed out. Max pressed his lips together and looked at Rebecca, who took her cue and bowed her head.

"I'll see you guys around," she mumbled before running off. Once she was gone, Vanessa turned toward the group of Gryffindors and noticed the look on their faces.

"What's going on. I've never seen you guys look so… weird. You have this face that says you're about to do something dangerous and probably stupid," she said. Max scratched that back of his head nervously.

"Well, it might be dangerous, but it's not stupid. We're trying to prevent the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Max told her, defending his friends. Vanessa burst out laughing, unable to control herself. Ron turned to look at Max.

"What's her problem? She's bloody mental," he mumbled. Both Max and Vanessa turned to glare at the redhead.

"Screw you. Do you realize how ridiculous you four sound?" She asked, wiping away a few tears out of her eyes. Harry clenched his fists in rage.

"We're serious. Snape is trying to bring back Voldemort!" He snarled.

"Snape? Listen, I'm not his biggest fan either, but Snape is one of our teachers. If he was trying to bring back You-Know-Who, then I doubt Dumbledore would keep him in the school," Vanessa said, trying to talk some sense into her friend and his friends.

"Funny, Hagrid said the same thing," Hermione said, trying to not take a side with either group. Harry and Ron were good friends of hers, but Vanessa was one of her only female friends. It was best to remain neutral.

"Because Hagrid knows that Dumbledore isn't the kind of man to let strange men teacher us. He knows full well of all the teacher's intentions," Vanessa told them. Ron glared at the girl. At first, he hated her because she was in Slytherin. But now, he hated her because she made him feel stupid. Of course they knew that, they weren't bloody stupid!

"Did he tell you that himself?" He hissed. Vanessa shrugged.

"Whatever, you're going to do it no matter what I say. Just know that I'm going to rub it in when you guys are wrong," she said in a sing-song voice. Max nodded.

"If we're wrong, which we're not, feel free," he shot back. Harry turned to Max.

"That reminds me, do you happen to play an instrument?" He asked. Max felt his cheeks grow hot, but ignored it.

"I can play guitar," he offered. Vanessa smiled.

"What, you aren't going to tell them about the flute lessons your mother made you take?" Max shot her a nasty glare. Sometimes it was hard to remember that they were best friends. He tried his hardest though.

"I don't have my flute with me, I do have my guitar though," Max snapped.

"Brilliant, you can play to put Fluffy asleep while we get under the trap door and figure out what's down there." Vanessa furrowed her eyebrows.

"Wait, you're just going to go in there not knowing what's down there? And you call me bloody mental. Seriously, what if you find a giant snake or something?" she asked.

"Snape is going to find the stone if we just sit here," Harry snapped. Vanessa placed her head in her hands and rolled her eyes.

"Max, please. Think about this. Even if you aren't falling through a trap door to Merlin only knows where, you're still in a room with a three headed dog!" Max was silent as he stepped forward.

"Nessa, it's the right thing to do," he said. She scoffed and shook her head.

"You're ridiculous. All of you!" With that, Vanessa turned and left the group alone, heading toward her dorm. Max sighed, knowing she was extremely mad at him. He'd have to deal with the repercussion's later.

"So… you play the flute?"

* * *

The small group of four made their way down the stairs to the common room, all of them not dressed for bed and holding out their wands. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, they paused when they saw a frog sitting on the armrest of a chair.

"Trevor," Harry muttered.

"Trevor, shush, go. You shouldn't be here!" Ron said. A second later, Neville appeared leaning out of the chair.

"Neither should you. You're sneaking out again aren't you?"

"Well… it's only sneaking if you get caught," Max pointed out.

"Now Neville listen. We were... we were-" Neville didn't give him time to continue.

"-No I won't let you! You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again! I'll, I'll fight you!" Neville said, holding his fists up as if to fight them. Hermione frowned and pulled out her wand.

"Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." A second later, she was waving her wand at him. "Petrificus totalus!" There was a pause before Neville fell to the ground and was still. His limbs were stiff and his face was that of horror.

"Brilliant," Max said quietly, amazed at her talent.

"You're a little scary sometimes, you know that. Brilliant, but scary," Ron told her. Hermione shrugged and walked past Neville.

"Sorry," she whispered. Harry was next and did the same.

"Sorry, Neville… we'll come back and fix you up," Max promised. Ron was last and sighed.

"It's for your own good, you know…" he quickly followed the group out of the common room and the four of them attempted to fit under the cloak, which was a bit difficult due to the fact Max was carrying his guitar.

"Ow, Ron, that was my foot!" Hermione hissed.

"Sorry," he replied. They came to the door and Hermione pulled out her wand.

"Alohomora," Hermione whispered. The door opened a second later and the four of them walked in.

"Wait a minute. He's snoring. Snape's already been here, he even put an enchantment on the harp," Harry pointed out.

"Why didn't we think about that?" Max asked. Hermione seemed to be thinking the same thing, but followed the other two boys off to the trap door.

"Ugh, it's got horrible breath!" Ron said.

"We have to move it's paw," Harry told them.

"What?"

"Seriously?" Harry shot both boys a look and moved forward. With the help of everyone, they were able to move the large paw over and open the trap door.

""I'll go first. Don't follow until I give you a sign, if something bad happens get yourselves out!" Harry instructed. He paused and furrowed his eyebrows.

"What is it?" Max asked.

"Does it seem a bit quiet to you?" He asked. Hermione looked over and noticed the now silent instrument.

"It's the harp, it stopped playing," she explained. Before they could fully comprehend what that meant, something dropped on Ron's shoulder, causing the red head to scrunch his nose in disgust.

"Yuck!" he groaned. The other three scrunched their noses at the disgusting substance before they heard something growl. All of them looked up to see Fluffy now wide awake and snarling at them.

"Jump!" Harry shouted. Hermione and Ron wasted no time, however, Max seemed to have no luck in the matter and the large dog swatted at him, causing him to jump away from the trap door.

"Max!" Harry called.

"Go! I'll be fine!" Max assured them, grabbing his guitar. Harry went to argue, but saw the giant three-headed dog turn toward him and threw himself down the trap door. Fluffy went after him for a minute before remembering that another boy was in the room and turned toward Max. The Gryffindor boy paused for half a second before he quickly began to strum on his guitar, playing a random lullaby he heard as a kid. The monster paused for a fraction of a second before stepping back and laying down. Max gave a heavy sigh and continue to play. Hopefully it didn't take too long for the group to come back, he wasn't sure how long he could play the same song over and over again.

* * *

"Vanessa, are you coming to bed?" Tracey asked. The two girls tried to stay up as late as they could with Vanessa, but it seemed as if she was determined to wait up for something.

"No, I'll be up eventually. Go on a head," Vanessa told them. Daphne and Tracey shrugged, but made their way toward the dorms, leaving the first year Slytherin by herself. There was no way she could sleep, not when she was worrying about Max. One part of her wanted to say he was getting what he deserved, but the other, larger, part of her was worried. He was still her best friend, and she wasn't sure she could bear to lose him as such. She glanced over at the clock and shook her head. They left for the trap door hours ago, and she could only assume they were halfway through whatever maze was left for them. By now they were either finding Snape, or giving up and turning home. Though, knowing Gryffindors, they probably wouldn't turn back.

Suddenly the doors opened and none other than Professor Snape walked in, holding the robes of a sixth year boy who was out past his curfew. Vanessa would've rolled her eyes if the feeling of pure shock didn't wash over her. No way could he be down in the trap door if he was giving detention to one of his students. Vanessa stood up, but her gaze never left the professor. She was right. Snape wasn't involved, but if he wasn't, then who was.

"Miss Cook…" A cool voice interrupted. Vanessa jumped and watched as Snape let go of the boy and make his way toward her. She took one hesitant step back and pressed her lips together. She really wished this man didn't intimidate her so much.

"Professor," she said quietly. Her mind was running through all the facts like a relay race. Even if he was in the trap door, she seriously doubted that he would have time to give the stone to You-Know-Who if he was standing right in front of her.

"You're up rather late, is there a reason?" he asked in his cool monotone voice. Vanessa took a deep breath and shook her head. If there was ever a time for her lying skills to come in handy, now would be that time.

"No sir, I was up doing some late night reading and lost track of time. I thought students were allowed in the common room at all hours, though I might be mistaken. I am a first year after all…" she explained. Snape raised an eyebrow and she refused to lose eye contact with him. For a moment, he seemed to be struggling with himself over something, but then took a step back.

"I believe heading to bed would be an appropriate action, Miss Cook. You would not want to oversleep," he told her.

"No sir, right away." Snape was silent for a long moment before leaving the common room and her alone. Max was in trouble, all of them were in trouble. What was she going to do? Running after them would be reckless, but was there another option? After a few more minutes of pondering, she grabbed her wand off the table and grabbed her button up sweater her mother had sent her. She threw her hair back into a sloppy ponytail before carefully exiting the common room. If she was going to make it to the third floor corridor, she had to do it fast and quietly.

* * *

After narrowly missing Flinch, Vanessa approached the door banned to all students in the castle. Sure enough, the lock was undone. She gave a sad sigh and frowned. Part of her had hoped that Max was smart enough to just go back to his common room, but she knew better.

She slowly pushed the door open, a familiar lullaby echoing through the chamber. When her and Max were younger, she would sleep over his house and his mother would sing the very same lullaby to them. Max told her that it was the only thing to put him to sleep as a child.

"Reminiscing?" She asked in a hushed tone, but her voice startled the young man. Max jumped and almost dropped his guitar. At the stopping of the music, Fluffy twitched and slowly began to wake up. Vanessa turned, realizing the giant three-headed dog was there. Max quickly began to play again and shot Vanessa a glare.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed. Fluffy grumbled in his sleep, but didn't stir. Vanessa carefully crossed the room to where Max stood, guitar in hand.

"It's not Snape," she told him, trying to keep her voice as low as she could. Max almost stopped a second time, but caught himself. He was in complete shock as he gapped at Vanessa.

"It has to be. We were… Hermione, Harry, and Ron… not Snape?" His words were jumbled as he tried to comprehend Vanessa's words.

"It's not, I just saw him give a sixth year detention. He's not down there," she told him. Max's eyes went wide.

"But someone is down there. There was an enchanted harp here when we got here," he told her, using his head to gesture to the instrument. She looked over.

"That instrument isn't enchanted," she pointed out. Max nodded.

"I know, but it was when we got here. It wore off and that thing almost took my head off before I could start playing," he explained. Vanessa nodded.

"We need to warn your friends. And I need to rub it in Harry's face that it wasn't Snape," she said. Max rolled his eyes.

"They have been down there awhile now and I'm worried," he mumbled. Vanessa nodded and carefully approached the trapdoor.

"Do you want to stay here or come with me?" She asked. Max frowned.

"Well, I'm not letting you go down there by yourself. You said it earlier, it might be dangerous," he said, his fingers still grazing the guitar strings. Vanessa nodded.

"Fair enough, but you'd probably end up being the damsel in distress before my knight in shining armor, just saying," she said. Max narrowed his eyes at her.

"You love to pick on me every chance you get," he shot back.

"HELLO? MAX? VANESSA?" Vanessa peered down the trapdoor, trying to see the source of the voice.

"Hermione? Is that you?" Vanessa called back, trying to keep her voice down lest she wake the sleeping beast.

"Oh thank god! I need someone to help me with this broom!" she called. Vanessa opened the door more and grabbed Hermione's hand. She also noticed that an unconscious Ron was on the broom as well. She helped the red head first before helping Hermione.

"Where is Harry?" Vanessa asked. Hermione looked a little worn out and shook her head.

"I don't know. I needed to come back and help Ron. Someone needs to go find him," she said.

"I'll go," Max said. Vanessa stopped him before he could.

"No, keep playing. Look, Hermione isn't going to be able to carry Ron to the hospital wing by herself," Vanessa said. She paused as she tried to think things through her head.

"Fine, but who will get Harry?" Hermione asked. Vanessa sighed and shook her head.

"I'll go. Max needs to keep playing," she said.

"I can play until you guys leave then go," he countered.

"Yes, but I know more spells than you. What are you going to do if you encounter someone. At least I'll have a fighting chance. Just… take them to the hospital wing and tell a professor, any professor," Vanessa said. In the back of her mind she couldn't believe the words coming out of her own mouth. She was risking her life to help Harry Potter. On the plus side, maybe she'd get some extra credit.

"Vanessa, be careful." She nodded and looked toward Hermione.

"I'll be back. If not, you get my books," she said, a small smile on her lips. Hermione smiled and watched as the girl went so she was sitting at the edge of the trap door.

"Good luck, make sure Harry's okay," Hermione said. Vanessa nodded and took a deep breath. She held tight onto the broom Hermione previously held and began to fall. A second later, she hit some sort of plant like substance before being bounced up and then falling through a small hole. A groan of pain escaped her lips and she slowly sat up, cringing at her back cracking a few times.

"The things I do for people. It's a wonder I'm not a bloody Gryffindor," she muttered, placing the broom in her hand and walking down a hallway where she heard the sound of wings. She made her way through the room and saw what looked to be flying keys whirling around the room. Across the way was a door, with what looked to be a key stuck in it. When she got closer she saw that it was stuck in the key hole, but was trying to fly it's way out. Vanessa quickly turned the key and ventured on. It seemed every room had some sort of obstacle, and the three Gryffindors seemed to make it through, leaving an open path for her. She guessed that whatever was hiding in this place was found, which made it easier for her to go through them without a problem. It was only when she came to the final room did she finally see the famous boy who lived. He was passed out on the stairs, a red stone clutched in his hand.

"Harry!" She said, running down the steps and kneeling next to him. He groaned in reply, but didn't wake up. She shook him gently, but there was still nothing, making her wonder what went on in this room.

"Come on, Potter, you need to get up," she said. Again, there was no reply, and Vanessa sighed in defeat. It seemed she would be dragging the boy out after all. Not waiting for him to wake up, she quickly moved him so he was sitting, then draped an arm around her shoulders.

"Oomph," she muttered, standing up with him leaning on her. He stumbled a bit, letting go of the stone in his hand, but she quickly grabbed it before it fell to the ground. Upon seeing it, she raised an eyebrow.

"All this for a stone?" she asked, a little shocked. Though there was no reply, she knew it was and shook her head, putting it back in his pocket. She slowly made her way out of the room and got back to the room with the keys before she was intercepted by Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.

"Miss Cook?" Professor McGonagall said shocked. Vanessa was a little too relieved that someone would be able to take the eleven year old boy off her shoulder to care if he was in trouble.

"He won't wake up. I don't think he's dead, but he's not waking up," Vanessa said. McGonagall gestured for some help, and she noticed a few other staff members came to help as well.

"Take him to the hospital wing immediately!" she ordered. Vanessa took a deep breath, glad that she was now feeling twenty pounds lighter. However, that light feeling went away the minute she came face to face with her head of house.

"Miss Cook, please explain to me how you found yourself down here and in this circumstances?" Snape asked. Though he was the one who asked her, she could see McGonagall looking at her curiously as well.

"Would you believe me if I said I was in the wrong place at the wrong time?" she asked, slightly hopeful. Snape simply raised an eyebrow but kept his gaze on her.

"Seeing as I told you to head to bed a mere couple hours ago, I find that highly unlikely," he answered. Vanessa pressed her lips together and searched her brain to come up with a lie, but she couldn't find one she could really pull off.

"I knew Max was going to be here, and after I saw you, I knew that he would be in danger," she confessed.

"You knew students were going to be here and did nothing?" Snape hissed.

"Yes sir."

"Miss Cook, I don't believe you realize that these students might be seriously hurt. Yet you did nothing to stop them," McGonagall interjected.

"With all due respect, Professor, they aren't very quiet about their behavior. Almost anyone could have seen what they were doing. I'm not their mother, nor am I their professor's. I came because my friend was hurt and his mother would never let me live it down if her got seriously injured. How I got stuck with Potter is still a mystery to me, but I did," she paused and looked to her head of house, "Does this mean I'm not allowed to come back next year?" she asked.

"I think we should leave that up to the headmaster, don't you, Professor Snape?" McGonagall asked. Snape sneered at her, but turned back to his student.

"Your behavior is very… odd for a Slytherin, but I suppose we have no choice, but to trust your story. We will leave it up for the headmaster to decide. In the meantime, you should get yourself checked out in the hospital wing," he said, his monotone voice making her flinch a bit.

"Yes sir."

* * *

Vanessa was cleared by Madame Pomfrey about a half hour after being found with Harry. Max and Ron were already there, while Hermione raced down from the owlery. Max took over taking Ron to the Hospital Wing while Hermione had left to contact Dumbledore, running into her head of house on the way. McGonagall told her to send their headmaster an owl quickly while she went to investigate the scene.

"Glad to see you made it out okay," Max said, rising from his place to embrace his best friend. Vanessa only had a few bruises and cuts, while Max had a giant cut on his arm from Fluffy as they left. Apparently, Fluffy got tired of his lullaby. Ron was still unconscious while Harry was in another room altogether. She shrugged.

"This was a one time thing. I can't have the other Slytherins thinking that I'm a goody-good like you Gryffindors," she mumbled. Max shrugged.

"Still, I appreciate it. Let's go find Hermione so we can let her know that you're okay," he said happily. Vanessa shook her head.

"You realize how much trouble we're in, right?" She said. Max frowned.

"I was trying to not think about it,"

"Max! Vanessa!" The two best friends turned around to find Hermione running into the hospital wing, her bushy brown hair blowing behind her as she ran.

"Hey," Vanessa said as the brunette embraced her. She didn't really enjoy hugs all that much, but she couldn't help hugging Hermione back. Hermione smiled and turned to Max, embracing him as well.

"We were just going to find you," Max said, his face lighting up at his fellow Gryffindor. Hermione smiled.

"Dumbledore just arrived and is talking to the other teachers. He said he would be down here shortly and we'd have to wait," she told them. Vanessa groaned and sat back down on her bed.

"We're so dead," she mumbled. Max sighed.

"Well… maybe not?" He said, though he almost seemed to be questioning himself. Hermione and Vanessa gave him doubtful looks.

"Do you realize how many school rules we broke today?" Hermione reminded him. Vanessa groaned again and flung herself backwards on the bed.

"My parents are going to kill me!" She mumbled. Hermione paused and looked at both Max and Vanessa, a worried look in her eyes.

"Wait, what happened to the stone?" She asked. Max looked at Vanessa.

"The red one? I gave it to Snape, why?" she asked. She still had no idea what they were after down there anyway. The silly stone didn't seem like something to really risk your life for.

"Oh thank god, that could have done bad things in the wrong hands," Hermione said with a breathless sigh. Max nodded.

"Or made you rich," he mumbled. Vanessa turned to look at Max.

"That stone could have made me rich?" She asked.

"Yeah, it turns metal into gold," he told her. Vanessa looked between Hermione and Max.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS TELL ME? I had the stone… we could have walked away richer than ever!" She exclaimed. Max turned to Hermione.

"And that would be why she's in Slytherin."

* * *

"Professor Dumbledore, here are the students," McGonagall said, gesturing to the three students sitting on the bed. Ron was still passed out on his bed, and no one expected Harry to be up any time soon.

"Ah, yes…" he said, walking up to them. Hermione and Max stood up immediately, but Max had to nudge Vanessa to get up.

"Good morning, Professor," Hermione said.

"Good morning, Miss Granger, Mr. Freeman, ah, and Miss Cook as well, this is a surprise," he said, though he seemed to be pleased. Vanessa raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else.

"Professor… about last night…" Max started.

"Yes, we should get to talking. I am to understand that all three of you, plus Mr. Wesley and Mr. Potter, were out past hours," he said.

"They were out longer than me, if it means anything," Vanessa said, pointing to the two Gryffindors. Dumbledore chuckled lightly while Max nudged her.

"Nessa," he hissed.

"Hello, Slytherin," she snapped back gesturing to herself.

"I have heard the stories, and I must admit I was not surprised to find that you went after the stone… with the exception of Miss Cook, it's not everyday you see a Slytherin Student around too many Gryffindors," He explained. Vanessa rolled her eyes. She was really tired of hearing that.

"So, how much trouble are we in?" Max asked.

"Are we expelled?" Hermione added.

"You're not going to tell my parents are you?" Vanessa whispered.

"No, you are not in trouble, you are not expelled, and I shall not tell your parents. I must warn you that what you did was reckless, it was brave none the less. No punishments shall be given out, but in the future, try and stay out of trouble." The students looked relieved and Hermione was the first to speak.

"Thank you, professor," she said. Dumbledore nodded.

"But of course, now… I will leave you to attend to your friends, Miss Cook, would you follow me?" he asked. Vanessa turned pale, but nodded and followed him out of the hospital wing.

"Am I in trouble Professor?" she asked.

"No, you are not," he answered. She nodded and they continued to walk in silence until he stopped.

"So… um, sir… how was your trip?" She asked. He chuckled and turned toward her.

"I apologize, Vanessa, I did not mean to make you uncomfortable," he confessed.

"Well, it doesn't take much," she admitted. He chuckled and pulled a piece of candy from his pocket.

"Lemon drop?" he asked. She paused before taking it and slowly unwrapping it.

"Thank you, sir." He nodded and a minute later, he finally spoke.

"What you did was very brave, and quite daring, if I may say so," he told her. She shrugged.

"I guess, I was more worried what Max's mom would say if she knew I let him go after that stupid stone by himself. The boy never thinks before he acts," she said, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"Yes, that seems to be a common Gryffindor trait, the hat chose well," he said.

"So… what is this about?" she asked, no longer able to beat around the bush.

"I wanted to tell you that though you're in a different house does not mean you cannot be friends with them. I also wish to award you fifty points, for helping out someone in need. It takes great courage to help someone who is an adversary, than a friend," he said. She immediately knew he was talking about Harry and wanted to sneer. She was sure she wouldn't have gone after him if it wasn't for Max.

"Thank you sir," she said. He nodded and patted her head, much to her displeasure. She liked the headmaster well enough, but she didn't like being treated like a child. She was twelve for Merlin sakes!

"Now, run along, I suppose Mr. Malfoy will be wondering where you ran off to," he said. She nodded and smiled.

"Have a good day, professor," she said.

"You as well, Vanessa."

* * *

"So you're not in trouble?" Max asked.

"No, but Snape yelled at me and told me to stop finding myself in these situations. Luckily, mum and dad didn't care. I told them I was worried about you and left out the part about Potter and all. They seemed pleased, but a little mad about breaking rules. They told me to be more careful in the future," Vanessa explained. Max nodded and sighed as he saw Ron and Hermione talking up ahead.

"I'm glad," he said.

"Well, I suppose I better let you go," she said. Max frowned.

"You sure? I mean… Ron knows what you did and he's not so-"

"-I'm sure. I promised Malfoy I'd meet him before the feast. He wanted to thank me for helping him out on one of his exams," she said. Max frowned, but hugged her.

"I'll see you on the train," he said. She nodded and walked away, leaving Max along to see the two Gryffindors.

"Was that Vanessa?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, she said she needed to go see Draco before the feast," he explained.

"That girl is so… weird," Ron commented. Before either Hermione or Max could reply they looked down and saw Harry walk into the room.

"Alright there Ron?" he asked, looking at the few cuts and bruises on his friend.

"Alright, and you?" Harry shrugged.

"I'm alright. Max?"

"As good as can be expected," Max replied. Harry nodded and looked to the Gryffindor girl.

"Hermione?" he asked. She smiled widely.

"Never better." Harry smiled and walked up the stairs and met them.

"Good. I'm sorry to get you guys involved in all of this," he said. Max shrugged and for a brief moment wondered if the boy knew Vanessa's involvement.

"Of course, mate. What are friends for?" Together, the four of them walked into the great hall. The room was abuzz with gossips of their adventure as well as Vanessa's involvement with the Gryffindors. They tried to ignore all the rumors as they took their seats.

"I heard she's dating Max."

"No way, she totally went in there to save Harry. She loves him, after all."

"Well, her and Hermione are good friends."

"I can see her having a seriously kinky love hate relationship with Ron."

"Bloody hell, me and that she-witch!" Ron snapped as Dumbledore cleared his throat. The entire hall went silent. Max looked over at the Slytherin table to where Vanessa was sitting. She sat next to one of her roommates and Draco, who held a smug look. Oh god… the House Cup.

"Another year gone. And now as I understand it, the House Cup needs awarding," Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eye. Harry frowned.

"Man, I forgot that we've been costing our house points all year," he mumbled. A few Gryffindors shot the four of them dirty looks, but Dumbledore continued.

"And the points stand as thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor with 312 points. Third place, Hufflepuff with 352 points. In second place Ravenclaw with 426 points. And in first place, with 522 points, Slytherin House," he announced. Rounds of applause and cheers erupted from the Slytherin table. Vanessa smiled proudly and joined in the cheering. Max frowned, but gave her a thumbs up anyway.

"Nice one, mate," Draco said, turning to Vanessa. Everyone knew of the house points she'd earned for helping her friends. Even if they were Gryffindors, she had still helped her own house in the end and that's all that mattered.

"Yes, yes. Well-done Slytherin. Well-done Slytherin. However recent events must be taken into account. And I have a few last-minute points to award," he announced. Vanessa's smile disappeared immediately. She was a smart girl and she knew that if he awarded her points, he was going to award her friends points too.

"Crap…" She mumbled, causing Draco to look at her.

"What?"

"To Ms. Hermione Granger, for the cool use of intellect when others were in grave peril. Fifty points. Second, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen these many years. Fifty points. Third, to Mr. Maximilian Freeman, for the calm and collected nature of an astounding musician to soothe others, fifty points. And fourth, to Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage. I award Gryffindor House sixty points." the house cheered and Hermione quickly did the math in her head, as did Vanessa.

"We're tied with Slytherin," she said. Max smiled and looked over to see Vanessa frowning.

"And finally, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies. But a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award 10 points to Neville Longbottom." The house began to cheer and the boy looked completely shocked. Dumbledore smiled and looked up at the banners. "Assuming my calculations are correct I believe that a change of decoration is in order. Gryffindor wins the House Cup!"

"Yes!" Everyone cheered, except for the Slytherin's all who seemed rather upset.

"No!" Draco hissed. Vanessa sighed and watched as the everyone stood up and threw their hats in the air, and Vanessa took her hat off.

"Could be worse," she pointed out to Draco.

"Oh, and how?" he asked.

"Potter could have won all the points by himself," she said. Draco groaned and practically slammed his head on the table. Vanessa wanted to be more upset, but she wasn't. Academically, she was second in their year, following behind Hermione just barely. She didn't worry too much, she'd beat her next year.

"Vanessa!" a voice called. Vanessa looked up and saw Max make his way over.

"Congratulations," she said. He smiled and shrugged.

"Well you know, it's just how we Gryffindors are," he said. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Yes, yes, rub it in. Why don't you go party with people who actually care," she said, a little harsh. Max ignored her and ruffled her hair.

"See you on the train," he said. Vanessa nodded and watched as he went back to his other friends.

"You bloody Gryffindor friend is a show off," Draco hissed.

"Takes one to know one."

* * *

Students began to rush onto the train as they hurried to get back home for the summer. Vanessa was busy talking with a couple of her friends before watching Max talk with Ron and Hermione. She quickly walked over as Harry left to talk to Hagrid.

"Good morning," she said, smiling pleasantly. She was too happy to be going home to care about the fact they were Gryffindors.

"You seem happy," Max commented.

"I'm going to Germany for the summer! Of course I'm happy!" she said, chuckling a bit.

"You're leaving me for a summer?" Max asked.

"I'm sure you'll have fun with Hermione. I'm visiting some cousins," she explained.

"Well… have fun," Ron sad. Vanessa seemed a little shocked, but smiled politely at him.

"Thank you." Before anyone else could say anything, Harry walked back over to them.

"Feels strange to be going home doesn't it?" Hermione said. Harry shrugged and got on the train.

"I'm not going home… not really." Ron smiled and they continued to get on the train. Vanessa turned toward Max.

"I promised Tracey and Daphne I would ride with them on the way home. Mum and dad said I'll be able to see you before we leave for Germany though," she explained. He nodded and hugged her tightly.

"I'll see you when you get off the train," he replied. She nodded and quickly waved to Hermione before turning to leave, she didn't get to far before Harry walked up and tugged on the sleeve of her robe.

"Vanessa, wait," he said. She turned toward him and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I just… I wanted to say thank you, for helping." She shrugged.

"Well, I couldn't let you just die down there," she confessed.

"Oh, really?" he asked.

"Of course, I needed to tell you something before you die," she elaborated.

"What?" He was thoroughly confused now. She smiled and chuckled.

"Told you it wasn't Snape," she said, not even bothering to hold back the "I told you so" tone in her voice. Harry rolled his eyes but smiled.

"Yes, yes you did." Vanessa laughed and shrugged.

"Oh well, have a good summer Harry," she said before turning and leaving.

"You too, Vanessa."

* * *

_**Jeck:** Another awesome chapter. And look, we actually have something to do at the end of this chapter! We have a few reviews to reply to!_  
_**Raxsah:** Well then, Shall we?_

_**Yuna1133**_  
_**Raxsah:** I'm glad you think our story is one of the best ones out there. Hope we didn't disappoint._  
_**Jeck:** Yay for another fan! We're two authors, for the record. :D_

_**you-know-who i think**_  
_**Jeck:** Well Ms. You-Know-Who (which I do, and you know I do, because I've told you this), you should get a better name. Like Purple Monkeys or something. MAKE A FANFICTION ACCOUNT! :D Anyway, I'm glad you like it. Sorry it took so long for the next chapter. But you already know all the good stuff. Actually, most of the time I'm hanging out with you anyway. lol_  
_**Raxsah:** I'm glad we're not focusing on Harry too much. We put Vanessa in Slytherin because we wanted something different. Most HP fics all the characters are in Gryffindor. However, I like writing a Slytherin. It's like having an excuse to be mean and evil. Taylor is very nice. I'd have my own team Jacob Head Quarters too. Screw the Zeffron._

_**SWfangirl21**_  
_**Raxsah: **I'm glad our characters have you hooked, hopefully they still have you coming back for more. I love Draco, I thought Tom did a fantastic job playing him in the last two movies, I can't wait to see how he pulls off part 2. He's probably one of my top five favorite characters, though the Weasley Twins are right after him. I honestly did not look and Edwards chest long enough to see if they were deformed or not. I agree, I think Ron just needs the spotlight for a while. He's constantly being pushed to the side by everyone. He won't be a git for the rest of the story. Though I'm sure he'll have his moments where you want to smack him in the head. We're good like that. It was only a matter of time before Harry Potter came along. Let's face it, that shit is hot. I actually have seen what you're talking about, though it's good, it's not my favorite series. I respect the coolness of it though._  
_**Jeck:** Now comes the hard decision, which character pair do you like better, Max/Vanessa or Ryan/Claire. MAWHAHAHAHA! Evil question. Draco really is one of my favorite characters. Hermione is too. AND TONKS! I LOVE TONKS! :D It's a little sad to know that Rob doesn't even like the character Edward Cullen. He's still ugly as fuck, but at least he knows it. ;) As soon as he popped up on the screen shirtless, I turned away. It's like... ewww. Don't even get my started on Ron. He's got a lot going for him, but he's still a jerk. To Harry, to Hermione, and to his own family. Like seriously. Ugh. Harry won't be a git, he'll just have his moments as a git in the beginning. He gets better, trust me. We both love Harry Potter so much. You should listen to our dorked out conversations sometimes. Or us watching the movies together. We just needed a break from our Resident Evil story. I haven't even heard of "Band of Brothers". . Sorry. MAGICAL ZOMBIE SEX FACE! :D_

_**Jeck:** Mmmmmm I missed the review replies. They're so much fun! :D_  
_**Raxsah:** I miss writing in general. Thankfully I have an awesome brother who let me steal his laptop. Though, in all honesty, I wasn't home all day to do so._  
_**Jeck:** Yeah, your brother is really fucking awesome. :) I'm quite thankful he's letting you onto his laptop. It means more Raxsah time for me. MAWHAHAHAHAHAHA! _  
_**Raxsah:** Hahahaaaa. Truth, until parties start kicking in, then I'm being left for free food. Which give me time to do homework... or sleep. Probably sleep._  
_**Jeck: **Sleep is good. It's what I get for living in Steeler Country. There is like a party where ever you go. I step outside my door and got blasted in the face with an air horn. Fucking Steeler's fans. I'm looking forward to the Puppy Bowl instead._  
_**Raxsah: **That... is a little sad. Anyway. Next time we start year two, which shall be so much fun. The tensions between Slytherin and Gryffindor is fantastic for a plot device. Just saying. Hopefully we'll even make you giggle a big in the process._  
_**Jeck:** We're good at making people giggle. Though whether it's from these rants or the story, we may never know._  
_**Raxsah:** I think it has to be a little bit of both. But what do I know. Anyway, Let's wrap this thing up. Leave a review and let us know we're loved. And pray for my laptop to be returned soon, because I'm loosing my damn mind._  
_**Jeck: **And wish Raxsah good luck with the new job! And let's wish that I win all future fights that I'm involved in! :D_  
_**Raxsah:** Right... Later bitches!_  
_**Jeck:** SEX ZOMBIE MAGIC WAND FACE SEX :D_


	3. All DownHill from Here

_**Raxsah: **__Holy crap! Hello Fanfiction! It has been so long. You never write anymore. Or… are we the ones who never write anymore? I get confused.**  
Jeck: **__I think it's us… I blame college. And psych wards. And work. And ball pits.**  
Raxsah: **__Ball pits is a new one. I blame… life. Oh well, important part is we're back, and we're posting. Shorter chapters-ish. It's hard to believe that we're only posting year two while we're writing year four. O.O My mind is confuzzeled. That might be the homework though.**  
Jeck: **__It's those damn ball pits! They have it out for us, damnit! I want some pumpkin pie… can I haz pumpkin pie?**  
Raxsah:**__ Sure. If I had some pumpkin pie, you could. Sadly I do not. I have some nasty cake that my aunt got… I do have ice cream… and pudding though. Pudding might be better. I miss pudding.**  
Jeck: **__I miss pudding too. But you know what I really miss? My BFFF. Like for reals. Readers, you do not understand how much I miss this chick. She's absolutely amazing and I'm forced to be 5 hours away. This is killing me! You are lucky. You guys get us together! I'm like peanut butter without my jelly right now!**  
Raxsah:**__ I'm like Tiger without my Pooh! You guys have no idea how hard it is to watch crappy movies without her. Sure other friends substitute, but it's just… not the same. However, speaking of best friends, we should get to the best friends in this story! They've had a whole summer to run amok, wonder what happened to them…**  
Jeck: **__I don't wonder. Cause I know. In fact, you might know too, Raxsah. However, the girl who lives down the hall from me doesn't and it's driving her crazy. (And I totally love every minute of it! :D)**  
Raxsah:**__ Oh yes… This shall be fun. I can only imagine the suspense, hope you haven't given her any hints. It has been some time since we've updated. Our bad. But we're here now. Do not fear dear readers.**  
Jeck: **__I haven't, which is adding to her crazy right now. I'm anticipating death threats soon. O.o But anyway, here's the next part of our fucking amazing story. If you don't think it's fucking amazing… you might be in the wrong place. ENJOY!_

* * *

**Chapter 3: All DownHill from Here**

**Year Two**

* * *

"I'm so glad you could join me today," Hermione said as the two of them trekked through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. Max smiled.

"Not like I've got much of a life, honestly. Vanessa won't be back from Germany until tomorrow and you're like my other half this summer," he admitted. Hermione just smiled.

"I'm glad I could fill the empty void," she said. Max blushed, realizing that they were doing a bit of playful flirting. It all started a month ago and they had continued to do it ever since. He spoke to Vanessa over the floo network a few times and told her about the flirting, which caused her to burst out laughing. She ended their conversation with reminding him to use protection. Protection from what, he still wasn't sure.

"So who are we meeting again?" he asked. Hermione's parents were browsing a few shops and Max's parents didn't want to go at all. He lied to them and told them that Hermione's mom was a witch and her father was a muggle. They weren't too happy with it, but it was better than them both being muggle.

"Ron sent me an owl and invited me to go shopping with him and his family. Apparently, his little sister Ginny will be joining us this year," Hermione informed him. Max nodded as they turned past the owlery.

"Such a shame that she missed last year's shenanigans," he said, examining the fine birds perched in the window. He loved Mask dearly, but sometimes she just liked be alone and Max hated it. What's the point in having a pet when it doesn't want to spend time with you?

"Oh, what a shame. I suppose we'll just have to top last year then," Hermione said with a chuckle, obviously joking. They walked past the Quidditch store and Max's eyes practically popped out of his head.

"We can try, at least. This year, I'm hoping a spot on the Quidditch team will open up," he said excitedly, looking at the new broomstick model.

"Oh… yes, watching you and Harry almost die in the sky will be so much fun," she said playfully, but with a frown. Her experience with the game last year was still fresh in her mind. Max turned to face her, noting her concern.

"Not if I had one of these puppies. It's a Nimbus 2001, the fastest broom alive. I can't be jinxed if no one can see me." Hermione shook her head and followed him through the magical shops before they came to the bookshop.

"The line is longer than normal this year," Max observed.

"That's because Gilderoy Lockhart is here," Hermione explained. Before Max could ask who that was, a familiar redhead appeared on the scene.

"Hey, I was wondering when you two would get here," Ron said.

"Ron! Hey! How was your summer?" Hermione asked, hugging him quickly.

"Just fine, how have you two been?" Max and Hermione exchanged looks as she pulled away.

"Peachy keen," Max said, shaking the older boy's hand. Ron nodded.

"Have either of you seen Harry?" Ron asked. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head.

"No, I thought he was with you." The three of them continued on their way into the bookstore and watched as Mrs. Wesley tried to hold her place in the line. The other witches continued to try to push in front of her, but the redheaded woman was determined to not let them pass.

"Did you find him?" she asked when the three of them came into view.

"No, mum… I didn't," he said. She frowned, but smiled when she saw Max.

"Hello, you must be Max. We've heard a lot about you from Ron," she said. He shook hands with her as best as he could, since she was holding a bunch of textbooks, and smiled.

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs. Weasley," he replied.

"I'm going to go see if I can find Harry," Hermione told them before leaving and walking to the front of the store.

"How was your summer?" Ron asked. Max shrugged as he quickly picked up the books he would need. He realized that this was the line to get them signed, but he honestly didn't care if they were.

"Fine, a bit boring. I spent most of it with my parents and Hermione. It was an interesting summer," he admitted.

"No she-witch this time?" Ron asked. Ginny gave him a funny look and his mother shot him a look.

"Ronald, that's not very nice," she snapped. Ron looked down, but awaited Max's answer.

"She's in Germany. She'll be back soon," Max answered, though slightly agitated. He hated it when Ron or Harry spoke ill of his best friend.

"Oh, Harry. Thank goodness. We hoped you'd only gone one grate too far!" she said as Hermione reappeared with Harry by her side.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. Max gave him a nod.

"Hey Harry." He noticed Harry's slightly dirty appearance and shook his head. He hated traveling by floo. It always seemed like he ended up covered in soot even when he was doing it right. His parents always walked out soot free.

"Hey Max, have a good summer?" he asked.

"As good as it could be." Before they could continue the conversation, a bunch of clapping erupted.

"Oh, there he is!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"Mum fancies him," Ron said to Harry and Max, earning a small jab in the shoulder from his mother. The group then became focused on Gilderoy Lockhart as he smiled for the pictures. A man with a camera shoved back their little group, turning around to shot them a glare as if they had just killed his puppy, then asked him for money.

"Out of the way! This is for the Daily Prophet," he snarled. The blonde haired man in the front of the room looked up to see what was going on and a large smile overtook his face, showing off his perfect white teeth.

"It can't be… Harry Potter," he said breathless. Without giving the poor boy a chance to react, Lockhart practically dived forward through the crowd and grabbed Harry's hand. He was pulled away from his friends towards the center of the room where the cameras were going off like crazy. With bright lights flashing all around him, Lockhart maneuvered him into the perfect pose for the two celebrities.

"Nice big smile, Harry. Together, you and I rate the front page," he whispered through his smile. Harry tried to smile, but it came out looking like a half ungrateful smile. Despite being the most famous twelve year old in the wizarding world, Harry hated the attention. Max rolled his eyes as he watched Harry being abused by flashes from the camera.

"Poor kid," he mumbled. Hermione turned to look at him, a dreamy look in her eyes.

"He's so lucky to be up there with him! And look, he draped an arm around Harry's shoulders. If only that were me…" She said in a light airy tone. Max turned to look at her, jealousy washing over him. What did that douche have that he didn't have? Other than a perfect smile and thousands of books sold worldwide.

"Ladies and gentlemen! What an extraordinary moment this is! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, Magical Me - which, incidentally is celebrating its twenty-seventh week atop The Daily Prophet's Bestseller List - he had no idea that he would, in fact, be leaving with my entire collected works! Free of charge!" Lockhart announced. The room was filled with applauses and cheers as he shoved the books into Harry's arms, the cameras still going off like mad.

"Man, I'm glad I'm not a celebrity," Ron mumbled as Harry seemed to groan at the attention. Max nodded.

"Agreed, mate." Lockhart shoved Harry back to his friends as he took a seat, preparing to start his autograph signing. Harry staggered back to where the Weasleys, Max, and Hermione stood waiting.

"Harry, you give me those and I'll get them signed," Mrs. Weasley offered, taking the stack of books from Harry. Harry gave her an appreciative smile as she took the books. "All of you, wait outside." She ordered. The rest of the family moved towards the door as Mrs. Weasley held her spot, refusing to move as other witches tried to shove past her. As they came closer to the exit, someone intercepted them.

"Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page." Harry narrowed his eyes, but it was Ginny who spoke up.

"Leave him alone," she snapped. Draco looked down at her before chuckling and looking back at Harry.

"Look, Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend," he snarled. Before he could continue, a man stepped in and lightly pushed the boy away with his cane, a snake head on the tip.

"Now, now, Draco… play nicely," he said. He then turned to the group, his platinum blonde hair flowing behind him. "Ah, Mr. Harry Potter, I don't believe we've met." The man extended his hand to shake.

"Lucius Malfoy, forgive me," he quickly pulled Harry toward him and moved his hair away with his cane, looking at the scar now embedded in his forehead. "Your scar is legend, as is the wizard who gave it to you." Harry pulled away from him and kept his eyes narrowed.

"Voldemort killed both my parents. He was nothing more than a murderer," Harry hissed. Lucius raised his blonde eyebrows at the twelve year old.

"You must be very brave, Mr. Potter, to dare speak his name. Or foolish," Lucius said.

"Fear of the name, only increases fear of the thing itself," Hermione said, cutting in. Lucius paused before looking at Draco, then back at her.

"And you must be Miss Granger. Yes, Draco's told me all about you... and your parents. Muggles, aren't you?" He looked across the room to where her parents stood, talking to Mr. Weasley. His face was clearly disgusted and turned his eyes to the rest of the group of children.

"Let me guess; red hair, broken expressions, lowly second hand books… you must be the Weasleys," he said, grabbing Ginny's book from her cauldron and examining it. He then looked to Max and raised an eyebrow.

"You name escapes me," he confessed.

"Max Freeman," Draco told his father. Lucius nodded and kept his eyebrows raised.

"I see. I haven't spoken with the Freemans in a long time. Surprising to find you here with… these lot," he commented, gesturing to Harry and his friends. Max narrowed his eyes just like Harry.

"Well, first time for everything," Max replied. Before another word was said between the two, Mr. Weasley stepped in.

"Children, it's mad in here. Let's go outside shall we?" he asked.

"Arthur Weasley," Lucius said, not hiding the slight disgust in his voice.

"Lucius…" Mr. Weasley replied stiffly.

"Busy time at the Ministry. All those raids. I hope they're paying you overtime," he paused and continued to look at Ginny's book. "Obviously not. What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" Lucius asked. Max glared at him. And he thought his parents were bad.

"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Arthur defended. Lucius simply looked back to the Grangers before giving a small nod.

"Clearly. The company you keep, Weasley. And I thought your family could sink no lower." Mr. Wesley looked conflicted for a moment before he turned to the children.

"Let's go shall we?" he asked. Lucius dropped Ginny's books back in her cauldron and looked at Harry.

"I'll see you at work," he said, though he directed it towards Mr. Weasley. He turned and left, gesturing for his son to follow. Draco turned toward the group.

"See you at school," he told them. He gave them all a once over look before turning around and leaving.

"Come now, much more shopping to do," Arthur told the kids.

"Well, if we ever questioned where Malfoy got his attitude from, it's clearly genetic," Max said, shaking his head. Arthur went towards the door, but stopped when he noticed a book on muggles nearby.

"That's for sure. Do they know your parents?" Hermione asked, remembering Lucius saying something about the Freemans.

"I think they went to school together or something."

"So… where is Vanessa?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

"Germany still. I believe," Max replied. Ron furrowed his eyebrows before pointing straight ahead.

"Isn't that her right there? With that red headed bloke?" he asked. Max whirled around to see Vanessa picking up a few books off the bookshelves, her father standing proudly behind her.

"Nessa? I thought you didn't come back until tomorrow," Max called across the room. Vanessa turned around to see her best friend, Hermione, and the rest of the gang with a few unfamiliar faces.

"We came back a day early, mum isn't feeling too well," Vanessa told them. Daniel Cook turned around to see a large group of children wearing their Hogwarts cloaks. He smiled when he saw Max.

"I'm glad to see that school hasn't changed your friendship with this young man," he said as Max approached them. Hermione stood close behind him while Ron and Harry took their time following. Ginny stood next to her father, watching the scene before them.

"Whose that, dad?" she asked. Mr. Weasley shook his head as he turned to see the wizard with the dark flaming red hair.

"He seems familiar, but I just can't put my finger on it," he told his daughter. Max held out his hand and shook Mr. Cook's hand. Daniel smiled and turned to Vanessa.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to the rest of your friends?" He asked. Vanessa nodded and turned back to the gang.

"This is my friend Hermione Granger. The redhead there is Ron Weasley. And that's… Harry Potter," she spoke his name softly, unsure of how her father would react. Daniel's eyes widened as he looked at the three young students.

"Harry Potter? You're not a pureblood, are you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing. Vanessa mentally prayed to God, knowing how badly this conversation could get if it went wrong. Max knew her father well since they were slightly worse than his own parents. If his father knew he was hanging out with Harry Potter, he'd pat his son on the back. But blood was the important thing when it came to Daniel Cook.

"No, he's not, sir. However, he's a brilliant wizard," he said, sticking up for Harry and trying to defuse Mr. Cook's slowly rising anger. He turned to Ron.

"And Weasley… a name I haven't heard in a long time," Daniel said. Mr. Weasley heard his family's name and crossed the room.

"Hello, I'm Arthur Weasley. And who might you be?" He asked, extending his hand.

"Daniel Cook. Oh, I do remember you," he said, slowly taking his hand. He remembered that the Weasley family was full of purebloods, even if they were a bunch of blood traitors. However, the Weasleys ranked much higher on his list than most wizards.

"Really? Where might I know you from?" Arthur asked. Vanessa watched the two converse and turned to Max.

"At least he's distracted now. Maybe he won't ask about Hermione," she whispered. Max nodded and they turned back to the two adults.

"The ministry. You're in the department for Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, if I am correct?" Daniel asked.

"That you are, which department are you in?" Arthur asked, folding his hands in front of him.

"I am part of the Wizengamot, just one step under Albus Dumbledore. Sine he is very busy at Hogwarts as the headmaster, I take care of a lot of his work," Daniel explained. Mr. Weasley's face lit up.

"Brilliant," he exclaimed. Daniel turned to Hermione, the last of the trio.

"I don't believe I'm familiar with the Granger family," he said, directed towards her. However, Arthur decided to step in for her.

"Oh, that's because Hermione's parents are muggles. Great people, they are," Arthur said happily, looking over at the Grangers. They now stood with Mrs. Weasley in line, waiting to get Hermione's books signed.

"Muggles? You're a mudblood?" Vanessa's face fell and she watched as Hermione's face turn pale and her eyes sadden.

"Well… yes sir," she answered. Daniel looked over to his daughter who averted her eyes away from him.

"I see," he said. He unconsciously reached out and took a hold of Vanessa's arm, pulling her away from the group.

"Daddy." Daniel shot his daughter a look and she quickly shut her mouth.

"Well, it is interesting to see where your loyalties lie, Maximilian," Daniel said, looking at the younger boy. Max frowned, not used to hearing her father speak to him in such a way.

"I didn't realize my loyalties were in question, sir," he confessed. Daniel scoffed and looked at Vanessa.

"I thought you told me you were friends with that Malfoy boy?" he asked. Vanessa looked over, noticing the entire Weasley family, Harry, Hermione, and Max were watching her carefully.

"I am!" she said in her defense.

"Yet you are friends with this mudblood? I thought I raised you better," Daniel hissed. Vanessa was shocked. Normally her father was a very private person, but he seemed pissed.

"I'm not friends with her!" she answered quickly. If it was a choice between being friends with Hermione or her father not yelling at her, she was going to choose the latter.

"I thought so," he said. He let go of Vanessa and looked at Mr. Weasley, who seemed a little shocked at the display. He never pictured this man to care about blood so strongly, but he had been wrong before.

"Well… I guess we should really be going," Arthur said, not sure what else to say. He felt immensely bad for Hermione, but he was not about to pick a fight with a high ranking ministry official.

"Yes, as should we. Come, Vanessa, you have books to buy," Daniel Cook said. Vanessa was not even given the chance to say goodbye to Max as her father led her away from the group. Max looked over to Hermione, who looked quite hurt.

"Hermione…" Max started.

"What a twat!" Ron snapped. Arthur shot his son a look and led the kids outside.

"She's not that bad!" Max said, trying to defend his best friend.

"She just admitted that she was not friends with Hermione! What was last year then?" Harry asked. Max sighed and ran a hand through his brown hair. He wished he could explain Vanessa's family to them. They were very proud and very old fashioned people. Her parents alone were much too old to have Vanessa, but she had been a miracle child, somehow, and her parents still looked pretty good for being in their sixties.

"They are old school Slytherins. I don't know how else to explain it," Max said.

"Why don't we get some ice cream while we wait for your mum and Hermione's parents?" Arthur asked.

"Anything is better than that bookshop," Ron mumbled. Hermione nodded, but said nothing else. Max had a feeling Vanessa's actions hurt her more than she'd let on.

* * *

"Vanessa Anne, you remember what I told you," Daniel said as they stood on platform nine and three quarters. Vanessa tried not to roll her eyes.

"Yes dad," she answered. Her mother stood next to her father, her face cold as she looked down at her daughter.

"We have tried to raise you right, Vanessa… don't you dare pollute your blood by hanging out with those mudbloods. We can accept half-bloods, but only if we must." Vanessa had the urge to pull her hair out, but resisted it. She would not flip out, especially at her own parents.

"Mum, dad, I need to get to the train," she reminded them. Anna nodded and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"Be good," she said. Vanessa nodded and kissed her mother's cheek. Daniel leaned down and hugged his daughter tight before letting her go and kissing her cheek as well.

"Have fun, princess," he whispered, though the 'princess' was a bit strained. Ever since the incident at the bookstore, Daniel had become even more distant with his daughter. She nodded and quickly made her way to the train, her cat in tow. After a whole two days of her parents yelling at her, she was finally free. Now she had to face Max and his friends, which she expected to be rough. It took a while, but she finally found the compartment that Max was sitting in, and tried not to flinch as Hermione shot her a nasty glare.

"Hey…" she said softly. Max looked over and gave a half hearted smile.

"Hi… how was Germany?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Um… just fine." There was a pause and Vanessa waited for Hermione to speak. Hermione closed her eyes and let out a sigh, seemingly letting out her frustration. When she opened her eyes again, they were filled with sadness, but the glare was gone.

"I understand why you did it, Vanessa. Max explained to me what your family was like. And I don't blame you… but it still hurt," Hermione said, her voice barely above a whisper. Vanessa frowned and took a seat next to the brunette as Max watched.

"Look, I know what I did was horrible. And I'm sorry, but my dad…" She turned to Max for help, but he shook his head.

"I already told her," he said. Hermione nodded as she took Vanessa's hand.

"I understand. It hurt, I won't lie, but I do understand. Not everyone in the wizarding world is accepting of muggle-borns as we'd like to think," she told Vanessa. Vanessa gave her a sad smile.

"Despite what my dad thinks, you are my friend," she said, trying to make things right. Hermione smiled, the hurt still in her eyes.

"I know." The compartment was quiet as the train left the station.

"Where's Ron and Harry?" Vanessa asked, expecting to see the two best friends. Hermione shrugged.

"We tried looking for them, but we couldn't find them. Max's parents gave me a ride to the station since my father had work and my aunt came up to visit my mum. We're not quite ready to tell the rest of my family, yet," she said. Vanessa nodded.

"I can imagine that'd be shocking. Still, I'm sure they'd be just as proud of you as everyone else is," she said. It wasn't in her nature to be reassuring and try to suck back up to Hermione, but she felt horrible about what her father said and the way he acted. She'd never admitted it to anyone else besides the two sitting with her.

"Do you think we should try looking for Ron and Harry again?" Max cut in. Hermione shook her head.

"Knowing those two, they're probably off getting into trouble," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. A knock fell upon the compartment door, causing all three of them to look up. Max smiled, motioning for the blonde haired girl to come in.

"Everywhere else was full… I hope you don't mind," Becky said. Vanessa smiled.

"Of course not! Becky, this is Hermione Granger," she said, introducing her Gryffindor friend to her Hufflepuff one.

"It's a pleasure," Hermione said, shaking the blonde girl's hand. Max scooted over to make room for her.

"You know, I felt like I barely got to see you last year," he said sadly. Becky smiled.

"Well, you were off trying to save the world and stuff."

* * *

Vanessa quickly made her way to the carriage, stopping for a moment to assess the creatures pulling it. Or lack their of. She wasn't completely sure what it was, but she figured if she got bored during the year, she could look it up.

"You coming in?" She heard a voice ask. She looked up into the grey eyes of her blonde haired Slytherin friend.

"Yeah, I'm coming," she said, hoisting herself up into the small carriage. She was seated next to Draco while her cousin and Crabbe were across from her.

"How was your summer?" Draco asked, looking like he was only mildly interested. It was more than she could say about how he treated the others.

"Fine, Germany was interesting. I got in trouble with a few of my cousins, but all-in-all it was a relaxing summer. And yours?" she asked.

"Boring. I didn't get into as much trouble as you," he said, a small smirk on his lips.

"Oh, Draco, you could never get in as much trouble as me," she told him, giving him a little wink to top it off. Draco smirked at her, but said nothing else as they continued to make their way to the school quietly. Crabbe and Goyle just sat back and watched the two of them interact.

"You still friends with that mudblood?" Draco asked suddenly. Vanessa paused, trying to gauge her response.

"I'm not friends with many of them, Draco… I get along with her and she's my best friend's friend. It's easier if I'm friends with her," she explained.

"Not turning into a muggle lover, are you?" he asked, turning toward her.

"Of course not!" she answered immediately. She liked Hermione well enough, that didn't mean she liked muggles. They were so behind and so uncivilized, it was a bit pathetic. She just found it interesting to watch them go through daily things that were rather trivial. Though, she would never admit that to anyone, but Max.

"Good, I can't have one of my close friends being a muggle lover," he said. Vanessa rolled her eyes, but quickly exited the carriage and walked into the castle.

"Vanessa, there you are!" Daphne called. Vanessa smiled and walked over to Daphne and Tracey, who looked quite excited to see their redheaded friend.

"Hey, how was your summer?" Vanessa asked, sitting down at the table. Tracey sat across from her while Daphne sat next to her. Malfoy was seated right next to her in an instant, the rest taking their usual spots at the table.

"It was lovely, Tracey and I spent a good amount of time at a couple beaches, it was fantastic, and yourself?" Vanessa shrugged.

"As good as it could be. Germany surprisingly isn't as fun as I thought it would be." The girls quickly began talking about their summers before the feast began and the first years were sorted. Vanessa noticed that Harry and Ron had yet to appear, but Max and Hermione seemed to be getting along just fine. Vanessa briefly wondered how long it would take them become an item.

"Did you hear a word I said?" Draco asked. Vanessa rolled her eyes and looked at him.

"You must realize by now that I hardly ever listen to a word you say. I find it rather unintelligent and boring," she said, hiding the playful smile on her lips quite well.

"Is that so? You'd rather talk to your mudblood bookworm and her lap dog?" he asked. Vanessa shot him a look.

"Her lap dog is my best friend, and yes, I would. At least she's intelligent," she snapped.

"You wound me, Vanessa," he mocked. She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Maybe if you study a little more I'll actually care enough to listen to you speak, until then… it's all hot air," she jested before turning to Daphne and Tracey. Draco couldn't hide the smile on his face.

"Cheeky little redhead," he mumbled before turning to have a conversation with his own friends.

* * *

"Harry! Ron! There you are!" Hermione said upon entering the common room.

"Hey Hermione, Max… have fun?" Harry asked. Hermione hugged him and awkwardly hugged Ron before sitting next to them.

"Where were you guys? We couldn't find you on the train and then you disappeared from feast," Max pointed out. Harry and Ron exchanged looks and blushed lightly.

"Well… funny story really," Ron started. Harry scratched the back of his head nervously while Hermione shook her head.

"I don't suppose I really want to know, do I?" She asked them, knowing all too well the trouble the two boys could get themselves in to. Max, on the other hand, was excited.

"What'd you two do?" He asked, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Remember that car we told you that Ron, Fred, and George came to get me in?" Harry asked, trying to remind Max of the conversation they had. Max nodded and Ron sighed.

"Well, we missed the train and kind of stole it to get here," he said, slightly ashamed. He knew his parents were going to kill him.

"Seriously? That's awesome!" He said, wishing he could have been there.

"Well, it would have been awesome if we didn't crash the car into a giant tree that tried to kill us," Ron mumbled, looking down at his broken wand. Hermione frowned.

"The Whomping Willow," she said. Harry turned to her.

"How do you know about it?" He asked. Hermione shrugged.

"I read about it in Hogwarts A History," she told them.

"Oh… well, we crashed the car and then Flinch caught us. He turned us over to Snape who told us that we were seen," Ron explained, his face paling at the memory, even if it was only an hour ago.

"You were seen?" Max asked, confused.

"By muggles," Harry added.

"Merlin's beard, how are you still here?" Max asked, his jaw practically dropping to the floor.

"McGonagall let us stay, since it was her decision. We've both got detention," Harry explained. Hermione nodded.

"As you should."

"And they sent letters home to our folks," Ron said, glaring at Hermione.

"I'm sure the Dursleys won't care," Harry said, trying to remain positive. Ron gulped.

"My mum is going to kill me!"

* * *

The next morning the second year students made their way to the greenhouse. Max was busy talking with Hermione and Harry that he didn't even notice Vanessa walk by with Draco.

"Damn she-witch," Ron hissed. Max looked up, knowing that was now Vanessa's new name when it came to the redheaded boy.

"Leave her alone, Ron," Hermione warned.

"How can you say that after what she did?" he snapped.

"He's right, Hermione," Harry added. Hermione sighed, but didn't press the matter any further.

"I'm telling you to leave her alone. If she doesn't jinx you, I will," Max snapped. Ron shot him a look and Harry just rolled his eyes and got ready for the class.

"Good morning students," the professor said.

"Good morning Professor Sprout," the students replied.

"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, second years. Today, we will be re-potting Mandrakes. Now, who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake? Yes, Miss Granger." Vanessa dropped her hand, once again being beat by the Gryffindor girl. It was rather annoying at times.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been transfigured to their original state," she explained. Professor Sprout nodded, but Hermione continued, "It's also quite dangerous. The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor. As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet. However, they will knock you out for several hours. That is why I have provided each of you with a pair of earmuffs. If you would then…" Everyone began to put on their ear muffs. Vanessa secured her own, but looked over to Draco, who put them on crooked. Between her light OCD and her genuine slightly caring nature, she fixed them for him, causing the boy to blush ever so slightly and look at his plant. Vanessa chalked it off as him being embarrassed about a girl correcting him and looked back to the professor.

"Now, you want to grasp the Mandrake firmly, and pull it straight up…" As she spoke, she demonstrated for the class and pulled the Mandrake out of the dirt, causing the students to flinch and grab their earmuffs. Vanessa couldn't hear what her professor was saying, but watched her carefully as she potted the plant and throw some dirt on it. A second later, a dull thud was heard and everyone looked over as Neville Longbottom fell to the ground. The professor gave a small sigh.

"Looks as though Mr. Longbottom neglected his muffs," she said sadly. The boy next to Neville looked down then back to her.

"No, Ma'am, he's just fainted." Professor Sprout paused before shrugging.

"Yes well… just leave him there. Everyone… grasp your Mandrake and pull it straight up!" she called. Everyone did as they were told, and soon the entire room was surrounded with Mandrakes crying. Vanessa scrunched her nose and looked over at Draco gently nudging one with his finger, that is until it bit him. She couldn't help the laughter escaping her lips as she placed her own in it's pot and mimicked her professor's actions.

"Nasty little things, aren't they?" Max asked Hermione, though he practically shouted. She chuckled and quickly tried to hush up her own.

"They… are different," she admitted.

"Reminds me a bit of Ron." Hermione began to burst out laughing and Ron sent him a glare.

"Not cool, mate."

* * *

Later around lunch, Max watched as Ron began to tape up his wand.

"Say it… I'm doomed," he mumbled. Harry looked over and watched as Ron hung his wand in his hand.

"You're doomed," he repeated. Max nodded.

"Seriously mate… I'm not sure you can even fix that," he said softly. Before the conversation could continue, a flash erupted and the boys looked over to see a first year Gryffindor in front of them, holding some sort of device in his hands.

"Hiya, Harry. I'm Colin Creevey. I'm in Gryffindor too," he said. His blonde hair was neatly combed and the goofy smile on his face made him look a little mad.

"Hello Colin, nice to meet-" The boy didn't give him a chance to continue as he gestured to his device.

"They're for my dad - the pictures. He's a milkman, you know, a Muggle, like all our family's been until me. No one knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till we got my letter from Hogwarts. Everyone just thought I was mental," Colin explained. Max raised an eyebrow and tried to hold back his snort.

"Really?" he asked.

"Imagine that," Ron added. Hermione smiled a little, but said nothing else.

"Say, Harry. D'you think your friend could take a photo of me and you standing together? Ya' know, to prove I've met you?" The look on Ron's face was enough to break Max's resolve as he began to laugh, though covered it by burying his face in his arm. Thankfully, owls started to fly in and one flew to them to save the day. It knocked over a bowl of food.

"Bloody bird's a menace," Ron muttered.

"Might want to get a new one," Max suggested. All joking was set aside when everyone saw what was in Ron's hand.

"Oh no…" Ron muttered.

"Look everyone, Weasley's got a Howler!" Seamus called. The entire table began to giggle and Max looked over to see even Vanessa and a couple of Slytherins laughing as well. He rolled his eyes and looked back to his friend.

"Go on, Ron. I ignored one from my Gran once... and it was horrible," Neville mumbled, remembering the horrible experience his howler was. Ron gulped as he looked down at the maroon envelope.

"Seriously, you might want to open that like fast. There's like a timer on it and if you don't… well, ask Neville," Max said as Ron's family bird took off again, knocking more things over and hitting a random fourth year in the head.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked. Max smiled.

"Vanessa got one from her mum when she snuck over to my house late at night once," he explained. Ron quickly grabbed the letter, but took his sweet old time opening it, his hands shaking madly. Harry placed a comforting hand on the redhead's shoulder as the letter fell open onto the table. As if by magic, which it was, the letter began to float in mid-air. The seal which had been broken turned into the shape of a mouth.

"RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR!" Harry dropped his hand as he watched the letter in shock. Ron's face turned as red as his hair when he noticed everyone in the Great Hall turned to watch the display. Even the teachers had put their utensils down to watch the Weasley boy get yelled out by his mother. Vanessa looked up from her breakfast and smiled.

"Oh, this'll be good," she muttered to Draco.

"I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" Mrs. Weasley's voice echoed through the dining hall, dishes and silverware shaking at the loud booming voice. Ron's lip was now twitching as he tried not to cry. His mother really had a way with words. Hermione's eyes were wide, having never experienced a howler first hand before while Max used his hand to bite down on, refusing to burst out into laughter. The red envelope turned from Ron to the other end of the table.

"Oh, and Ginny dear. Congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud," the howler finished. Ginny looked up from the little black book she was writing in, realizing that everyone's eyes were on her. As if someone forced her head down, she turned back to her book, willing the stares to go away. The letter turned back to Ron, who still looked as if he were about to break down crying any moment. The envelope stuck it's paper red tongue out at the redhead before tearing itself up into little tiny pieces. There was a pause as people waited to see if the howler was done. But Max couldn't take it anymore. He was the first one to burst out laughing, causing the rest of the hall to follow him. Even a few teachers lift their napkins to their mouths to hide their chuckling. Colin began snapping photos like crazy of Ron's mortified look.

"I have a feeling that today is going to be a good day," Vanessa said happily. Draco was doubled over in laughter.

"The filthy blood traitor deserves it," he howled with laughter. Harry once again placed his hand on Ron's shoulder, who turned to look at him.

"Look at it this way. How much worse can things get?"

* * *

The students sat in their class awaiting their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Vanessa was able to have a short conversation with Max, but was interrupted by Ron telling her that she was not welcome near their group of friends. To which her reply went along the lines of:

"Shut your mouth, Weasley, or do you need mommy to send another Howler to remind you to mind your manners?" That seemed to shut the boy up and Vanessa walked over to sit with Daphne. A moment later, the door opened and their Professor walked in.

"Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Me. Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award… but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" he began to laugh and looked around the classroom. Vanessa rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands.

"Bloody hell this will be a long year," she muttered. Daphne didn't seem to hear her as she stared at the man lovingly. A second later, he sent a quiz out, something Vanessa thought she was prepared for. However, one look down and she realized that she was not prepared for the questions.

"What the…" Max trailed off as he realized the questions went along the lines of 'What is my favorite color?' 'What is my goal in life,' and 'What would my ideal birthday gift be?' It was truly ridiculous. A few minutes later, the quizzes were handed back and he looked over them. Max folded his arms and leaned back in his seat, still in shock at the pop quiz their teacher had given them.

"Hardly any of you remembered my favorite color is lilac. But Miss Hermione Granger knew that my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair care potions. Good girl," he said to Hermione, who smiled brightly. Max sank farther into his chair, his arms still crossed. Their teacher was rubbish and yet Hermione looked upon him as if he were an angel preparing to deliver her to heaven. With a huff, he closed his eyes. Meanwhile, Lockhart continued looking through them and furrowed his eyebrows when he came to a certain paper.

"Is there a Vanessa Cook?" he asked. Vanessa raised her hand proudly and her eyes met his. Max shot up his in seat, noticing the look in her eyes and immediately knew this would follow a detention.

"Here, Mr. Lockhart," she said.

"It's professor," he corrected.

"Whatever…" He frowned and took a few steps toward her desk.

"I find your answers rather inappropriate," he told her.

"Which ones?" He looked over and read on aloud.

"'The best gift anyone could give Gilderoy Lockhart is a swift kick to the shins and a clue,'" the class began to giggle, but it didn't end there. "'Oh, and I don't know when his birthday is, in fact, I care more about the second coming of Christ, whatever that may be.'" he finished and looked at her. Vanessa tried to keep the smile off her face, but could not do so.

"Yes, those sound like my answers," she confessed. He frowned and shook his head.

"Ten points from Slytherin, and detention." She smiled. Max couldn't help, but smile as well. Hearing Vanessa's answers lightened his mood. At least he wasn't the only one to think that Lockhart was full of dung.

"See you there, _sir_." Lockhart rolled his eyes and turned toward a cage.

"Now... be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard-kind! You may find yourself facing your own worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here…" Max raised an eyebrow as he turned toward the cage.

"I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them!" The curtain was lifted and the class looked at the cage filled with Pixies. Everyone began chuckling and Max shook his head.

"You've got to be kidding? Pixies?" he asked.

"Not just any pixies. Freshly caught Cornish pixies," he said.

"Dude, I think I'm more scared of my mom," he admitted. Hermione laughed and from the back of the room he heard Vanessa shout "Me too!"

"Laugh if you will, Mr. Freeman, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them now!" The cage was open and they all flew around the room. The girls let out screams and everyone quickly was running away before all that was left were the four Gryffindor and Neville, who somehow ended up on the chandelier.

"I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back into their cage," Professor Lockhart asked. The small group of students looked at each other.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked. Max sighed as he smacked one away with a book. He noticed one pulling on Hermione's hair and frowned.

"Mione, hold still," he said, before using his book to clobber the fowl creature. Once the pixie was out of her hair, Hermione wasted no time pulling out her wand and pointing at the group of pixies.

"Immobilus!" Suddenly, all the pixies froze and Max looked up to the ceiling where Neville looked down at them.

"Why is it always me?" he asked sadly as his robes began to tear.

* * *

"Bloody hell, these were my last good pair of robes," Ron mumbled as they exited the room a half hour later. All the pixies were caught, caged, and Lockhart had practically crawled out of his office in fear. However, they did earn thirty points for Gryffindor, which felt pretty good. Hermione rubbed her sore scalp as Neville removed his own robe.

"Gran won't be happy to hear I've tore another set of robes," he mumbled. Max nodded.

"I still have no idea where this cut on my arm came from," he muttered, using his left arm to pull on his right one, showing the other four his fresh wound. Hermione frowned.

"Perhaps we should make a stop at the hospital wing," she offered, noticing the small trail of blood on his arm.

"Can you believe him?" Ron finally snapped. Max shrugged.

"Watching him run into his office was kind of worth it," he admitted.

"I'm sure Professor Lockhart just wanted to give us some hands-on experience," she offered, trying to defend their new teacher. Harry, Ron, and Max all gave her looks of disbelief.

"Hands on? Hermione, he didn't a clue what he was doing!" Harry exclaimed, gesturing to his broken glasses.

"Rubbish. Read his books. You'll see all the amazing things he's done," Hermione said, quickly fixing Harry's glasses.

"He says he's done," Ron added, causing Hermione to glare. Before she could open her mouth, Max placed his dirty hand on her shoulder.

"Seriously though, I could say that I defeat that troll last year by myself. I could write a book about it, but it doesn't mean it was true," he said, trying to show her their point of view. Hermione scoffed.

"We've got another class to get to," she told them before scurrying away. Reluctantly, the four boys followed.

* * *

"I hate him!" Vanessa hissed in the common room.

"How can you hate him? He's so dreamy!" Daphne told her. Vanessa raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Are you bloody mental? He just set a bunch of freaking pixies around the room then left. And don't even get me started on quiz. It was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen. Ever!" she hissed. Tracey raised an eyebrow.

"Vanessa, are you sure you're not just… mad that he gave you a detention. I mean, it would be your first ever," she explained.

"No! I'm mad at the fact that he's a bloody idiot and yet is a teacher!" Daphne rolled her eyes, but went back to painting her nails.

"Vanessa, seriously. Just let it go. Continue in the class like you always do and then just curse him under the table or something, kay?" Vanessa gave a scoff and through her hands up in the air.

"Seriously, this sucks." Before either girls could say anything more Draco made his way over.

"Guess which second year is on the Quidditch team?" he said, a cocky smirk plastered on his face.

"Harry Potter? Oh wait… he was on it last year. Be a pity if they kicked him off this year," Vanessa said. Hurt crossed Draco's face for a fraction of a second before he recovered.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" he hissed.

"Shut up, Draco." Before the fight could get any worse, Daphne interrupted them.

"Don't mind her, Malfoy, she's just mad about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher giving her a bad grade and a detention," she explained. Vanessa threw a pillow at her and then turned to Draco.

"What were you saying?" she asked, her voice calmer, but still held some tension.

"I made the Quidditch team," he told her. Vanessa was about to raise an eyebrow, but smiled instead.

"Congratulations, now you can fly a million miles per hour and almost kill yourself for a stupid ball." Draco rolled his eyes and gently shoved her.

"Shut up. You're coming to the game, right?"

"Well after you just told me to shut up and shoved me, I'm not too sure I want to see anything with you in it," she replied. Draco's face fell, but no one could tell if it was in mock hurt, or he if he really was disappointed.

"Come on, just go. You really want to be the girl in the Slytherin common room reading while everyone else is at the game?" he inquired.

"Draco, if you want me to go, just ask," Vanessa snapped, a little annoyed at his childish behavior.

"I never said-"

"-Forget it. I need to go do homework," she said, grabbing her book bag and getting ready to walk to the library.

"Are you going to be at the game?" he asked once more.

"Sure, why the hell not. Now leave me alone, I need to go find out Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite bloody color."

"It's lilac," Daphne told her. Vanessa paused and reached for her wand, but stopped herself and continued to the library.

* * *

Max sat in the courtyard with Hermione and Ron, while he watched the Gryffindor Quidditch team make their away around.

"Next year, I swear, next year I will make that team," Max said.

"Sound confident in yourself," Hermione pointed out.

"I'm not half bad. Plus, next summer I'll have Vanessa come over and train with me. She's really good at hitting the bludgers from the ground. Maybe we can meet at a park and you can play too," Max suggested.

"Sounds more entertaining than my summer. Fred and George never play fair," Ron muttered.

"You should come too. I'll show you how awesome I really am." Before Ron could reply, he saw the Slytherin Quidditch team intercept the Gryffindor team.

"This can't be good," Ron said before getting up. The other two followed and got closer to the group of students.

"Clear out, Flint! I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today," Oliver Wood snapped.

"Easy, Wood. I've got a note," Marcus Flint said, handing it over. Oliver Wood narrowed his eyes but grabbed it from the other captain and read it aloud.

"'I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new Seeker.'" He looked up and raised his eyebrows. "You've got a new Seeker? Who?" Flint said nothing, but moved aside so none other than Draco Malfoy could step forward.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, almost shocked.

"No way…" Max whispered.

"That's right, and that's not the only thing that's new this year," Draco said, gesturing to his broom. Everyone looked at the brooms the Slytherin team had and Max's eyes almost fell out of his head.

"Life hates me," he mumbled.

"Those are Nimbus Two Thousand Ones. How did you get those?" Ron asked, not even hiding the jealousy in his eyes.

"A gift from Draco's father," Flint explained.

"That's right, Weasley. You see, unlike some, my father can afford to buy the best," Draco gloated. Hermione crossed her arms and glared at him.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent," Hermione pointed out. Draco stepped forward and returned her glare.

"No one asked your opinion, your filthy little mudblood." Everyone on the Gryffindor team gasped, except for Harry. He had heard the term used before, and he knew it was something offensive, but he never really knew the meaning. He guessed Hermione just heard it one time too many as her eyes watered ever so slightly. Max clenched his fists and seriously debated on punching the blonde git in the face. Fred and George had taking a liking to Hermione and lunged forward towards the blonde haired boy. Oliver Wood and Angela Johnson grabbed the Weasley twins, keeping them from their attack.

"Save it for the match," their captain warned. However, Ron couldn't let it go.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy," Ron snarled, pulling out his wand. Max's eyes went wide, realizing the redhead's wand was still broken. "Eat slugs!"

"Ron, NO!" Max cried out, but it was too late. Green light formed on the end of his wand, but instead of shooting out at Malfoy, it came back towards the owner of the wand. Ron flew back at the impact of his own spell, landing in the grass a few feet away. Harry, Max, and Hermione were at his side in seconds.

"Ron, say something!" Hermione pleaded, hoping her redhead friend was alright. Ron just looked up at her before he opened his mouth, belching up a slug. His three friends scrunched up their faces as the slug felt into the grass, leaving behind a trail of goo on Ron's lips. Howls of laughter erupted from the Slytherin team behind them, but they ignored it.

"What do we do now?" Max asked as they helped Ron to his feet. As if to respond, Ron threw up another slug. Like magic, Colin Creevey appeared before him with his camera out, ready to snap some pictures.

"Wow! Can you hold him still, Harry?" He asked, looking at the redhead in amazement. Ron burped up another slug, this time practically growling as it hit the ground.

"Get out of the way, Colin!" Harry snapped as he helped support his best friend. Max helped support the redhead from the other side while Hermione turned to Harry.

"Should we take him to the hospital wing?" She asked them. Harry shook his head.

"No. Let's take him to Hagrid. He'll know what to do," he ordered as the Slytherins continued to laugh hysterically. Max paused and motioned for Hermione to take Ron's arm. She gave him a questioning look before taking his spot. Max turned around and marched over to the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"What are you going to do, curse me too? I'll report you and then we'll see-" Before Malfoy could finish his sentence, Max punched the blonde haired boy in the face. His nose cracked, but Max knew he didn't hit him hard enough to break it.

"They told us not to use magic. And trust me, there wasn't an ounce of magic there," he snapped before returning to Ron, taking the redhead from Hermione.

* * *

They reached Hagrid's hut a half hour later with Ron still vomiting slugs the whole way. Hermione knocked lightly on the door before backing up to look at Ron once more. A few seconds later, the door swung open to reveal their half-giant friend.

"Blimey, what happen to Ron?" He asked as the redhead threw up another slug on the steps. Max sighed.

"He tried to use a curse with a broken wand," he explained as Hagrid ushered the four of them into his house. They carefully sidestepped the slug as Ron got ready to belch up another one.

"Got jus' the thing. Set 'im down on that chair o'er there," Hagrid ordered as he shut the door and turned to rummage around his house. A minute later, Hagrid placed a bucket in Ron's lap just in time as he burped up another slug.

"That's like the fiftieth time I've seen it and it's still disgusting," Max mumbled. Harry gave Hagrid a questioning look.

"Better out than in. Who was he tryin' ter curse anyway?" Hagrid asked as he turned around to make tea for the four preteens. Possibly just the three of them after he watched Ron burp up another slug.

"Malfoy. He called Hermione, well, I don't know exactly what it means…" Harry trailed off, turning to look at his friends. Hagrid put down his pot to turn around and face Harry. Hermione's eyes were sad and downcast as Max clenched his fists, remembering what Malfoy had said. It still irked him to no end. Despite Ron's pale expression, even he bore an angry look.

"He called me a mudblood," Hermione whispered, rising from her seat next to Ron. Max raised a hand to stop her, but let his hand fall limp. Hagrid's eyes went wide and gasped.

"He didn't!" He breathed, unable to believe what the bushy haired girl just told him. Harry looked confused, realizing the tension in the room.

"I still don't understand what it means. I remember when Vanessa's father said it to you, but I didn't understand why he said it or what it means," he said. Max frowned even farther at the memory.

"It means dirty blood. Mudblood is a really foul name for someone who was muggle-born. Someone with non-magic parents. Someone... like me. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation," Hermione explained, wrapping her arms around herself. As if to lighten the mood, Ron couldn't hold back another slug. Max gave the redhead another comforting pat on the back.

"Yeh see, Harry. There are some wizards, like Malfoy's family, who think they're better than everyone else 'cause they're what people call pureblood," Hagrid explained, trying to explain it so Harry could understand. Max nodded in agreement.

"Ron and I are purebloods because our families come from only wizards. But sometimes, like in Hermione's case, a wizard or witch can come from non-wizarding families. Our families aren't like Malfoy's, but Vanessa came from a family similar to Malfoy. In her defense, she doesn't hold as strong beliefs as they do, no matter what she said to you guys before," Max added as he rose to his feet and crossed the room to where Hermione stood. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a comforting hug, which she returned. Harry nodded and turned back to Hagrid.

"That's horrible," he mumbled. Ron nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but another slug toppled out. He wiped his mouth and frowned.

"It's disgusting."

"An' it's codswallop ter boot. Dirty blood. There's 'ardly a wizard today that's not half-blood or less. If we 'adn't married muggles we'd've died out long ago. Besides, they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do," Hagrid said, trying to cheer her up. She smiled from Max's arms as the half-giant gestured her to come over from a hug. She gently pried herself out of Max's arms, much to his displeasure, to cross the room. Max sighed, letting her go without reluctance. Her smaller frame against his made him feel like the luckiest man in the world in that brief moment.

"Don' you think on it, Hermione. Don' you think on it fer a minute," Hagrid told her, wrapping his giant arms around her.

* * *

"Why did you punch Draco in the face?" Vanessa snapped as she grabbed Max's shoulder, turning him around. He was walking with Harry back to the Gryffindor common room when he felt her hand. He gave Harry a look to go on without him before turning back to his redhead friend.

"He called Hermione a mudblood! To her face!" He replied as Vanessa glared at him.

"I called her a mudblood and you didn't punch me in the face!" She pointed out, trying to make Max feel bad. Draco had returned late from his first practice, sporting a bruised nose and a blood covered t-shirt. She knew immediately what happened before she had asked the blonde haired boy.

"That's different, you were doing it to protect yourself from your father. Hermione and I understand, it's just the way your family is," he said, defending himself, but Vanessa only seemed to get angrier.

"Have you considered that perhaps it's the same way for him?" She spat.

"Well I… it's not the same. Malfoy hates anyone who isn't a pureblood, you don't. You're friends with her," he reasoned, realizing he was losing this argument fast.

"I'm friends with her, but that doesn't mean I don't frown upon muggle-borns. Honestly, they're lower than us," she said, lifting her chin up slightly. She wasn't as horrible as her parents, calling muggle-borns mudbloods to their faces on purpose, but it didn't mean she didn't think lowly of them.

"So now Hermione is scum?" Max asked, completely disgusted where the conversation was turning. She was his best friend, but it wouldn't stop him from defending his newer female friend.

"I never said that, I'm just saying that muggle borns are less skilled than us purebloods," Vanessa told him, expressing her opinion on the matter. Honestly, it was if this was new information to Max. He knew she didn't like muggles or muggle-borns, she was just fascinated by all the things they had to do without magic.

"And that's why Hermione is the top of the class, right?" Max hissed, not realizing he had struck a nerve. Vanessa clenched her fists, trying to fight the tears in her eyes.

"Max, shut up. Listen, if Hermione called me something offensive, I wouldn't punch her in the face. She's your friend. Draco is my friend and as my best friend, I hoped you'd at least have some respect for me to leave him alone," she snapped, trying so hard to keep her voice steady. Being second best to Hermione, a muggle-born no less, secretly drove her crazy. She was a pureblood, she should be better!

"Then tell him to keep his mouth shut when it comes to Hermione," Max snapped before turning around and walking off, leaving Vanessa alone.

* * *

Max gave a heavy sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. Because of what he did to Malfoy, he had a detention with Professor McGonagall, who gave him a long speech about how disappointed she was in him.

_"Sticking up for a friend is one thing. Acting like a complete barbarian by swinging your fists is another, Mr. Freeman." _God, she sounded like his mother. He looked over and saw Vanessa sitting with Draco, who was still going on about his bloody nose. Unlike Pansy, who was fawning over the boy, Vanessa merely rolled her eyes. She turned began talking to a boy that he recognized as Theodore Nott. He seemed a little startled at her talking to him in the first place, but kept the conversation going.

"How was detention?" Hermione asked. Ron shrugged as he slowly began eating.

"Fine, I finally was able to stop tossing up slugs… though I had to clean the same trophy over a few times," he confessed.

"That's not too bad. McGonagall had me writing lines," Max confessed.

"'I will not punch ruddy git's in the face.'" Max and Ron began to laugh at Ron's joke as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You didn't have to punch him in the face," she said.

"Well, you weren't going to do it. Someone had to," he confessed.

"I know, but you got in trouble with Vanessa over it," Hermione pressed. Ron raised an eyebrow.

"So? Who cares what the she-witch thinks? She's a prat for being friends with him," Ron snapped. Max narrowed his eyes at the redhead.

"She's still my friend, so watch it. How did you know she was mad at me?" Max asked, looking at Hermione. Hermione shrugged and continued with dinner.

"She was let out of her detention early with Snape, mostly because I think he secretly was proud of her with the stunt she pulled with Professor Lockhart, and I began talking with her. She said she couldn't talk long, because it was best if she stayed away from chivalrous Gryffindors. I assumed it had to do with you punching Malfoy," Hermione said. Max smiled and chuckled. Hermione really was too smart for her own good.

"Well… she's being a baby. She wants to defend him than so be it," he replied. Hermione shrugged and looked around.

"Dinner is almost over, where is Harry?" she asked, looking around as if to spot him.

"I don't know, should we look for him?" Ron inquired, finishing his dinner.

"Let's go," Max said, standing up and making his way out of the great hall with Hermione and Ron following behind.

"I think he has detention with Lockhart, maybe he's there?" Ron shrugged.

"Best place to start. I wonder what he had to do…" Max chuckled and looked at them.

"Answer his fan mail, probably." Ron began to laugh and Hermione just rolled her eyes.

"Oh stop it. Wait… there's Harry," she said. The group moved forward and intercepted the dark haired boy.

"Hey," Max said.

"Harry!" Hermione said, trying to get his attention. Harry turned to them, but did not return their greeting.

"Did you hear it?" he asked. The other three exchanged looks before turning to him.

"Hear what?" Ron asked.

"That… voice," Harry explained, sounding a little unsure.

"Voice?" Max asked, looking at him like he was crazy.

"What voice?" Hermione added.

"I heard it first in Lockhart's office and then again, just…" he trailed off, his eyes looking all around the hallway. "It's moving. I think it's going to... kill."

"What?" Max asked. Suddenly Harry took off, leaving the group in the dust. They immediately ran after him and tried to keep up. Harry suddenly stopped and looked at the large puddle of water that was on the floor.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Ron asked, quite confused. They followed his line of sight and then at the wall, where they finally saw the phrase Harry was looking at.

"'The Chamber of Secrets has been open… Enemies of the heir beware.' It's written in blood," Hermione informed them. Max looked over and his eyes widened upon what he saw.

"What the…" Harry looked over and frowned even further.

"Oh no… it's Filch's cat." Hermione looked over and frowned upon seeing a group of spider's move toward the window.

"I've never seen spider's act like that," she confessed.

"I don't like spiders," Ron whined. Before anyone could comment, the sound of footsteps and voices were heard, and soon the crowd from dinner was surrounding them. Max looked over and saw Draco reading it over, his eyebrows furrowing.

"'Enemies of the heir beware'?" He paused before looking over at Hermione. "You'll be next, Mudbloods," he snapped. Max looked over at Vanessa, who simply looked at Hermione, then back at him before turning toward the message on the wall.

"What's going on here? Go on now! Make way! Potter… what are you…" Filch trailed off and looked at his cat and frowned. "Mrs. Norris…You… you killed my cat," he said, looking at Harry.

"No, no I didn't!" Harry said. Filch reached out and grabbed his shirt.

"I'll kill ya', I'll kill ya'!" Before anything else could happen, Dumbledore's voice echoed through the hallway.

"Argus!" There was a pause as Dumbledore read over the message before his face fell and he looked to the students.

"Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately." Harry and his group turned to leave, but Dumbledore stopped them once more. "Everyone except… you four." Max frowned, but stayed where he was. Didn't he just leave detention?

"They killed my cat," Filch whispered. Dumbledore looked at the squib and shook his head.

"She's not dead, Argus. She's been petrified," Dumbledore explained.

"Petrified?" Filch asked. Dumbledore nodded once more.

"So unlucky I wasn't there. I know the very counter-curse that could have spared her…" McGonagall raised an eyebrow and it took as much effort as he could muster for Max not to bust out laughing.

"But how she has been petrified… I do not know," Dumbledore continued.

"Ask him!" Filch said pointing toward Harry. "He's the one that's done it. You saw what he wrote on the wall," he finished. Harry frowned and turned toward Dumbledore.

"It's not true, sir! I swear! I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry defended.

"Rubbish!"

"If I may, headmaster," Snape said cutting in. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, the circumstances are suspicious. I, for one, don't recall seeing Potter at dinner," Snape said, raising a suspicious eyebrow at Harry.

"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus. You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail…" Max and Ron couldn't hold back the snorts of laughter, and it was all they could do not to start giggling. Hermione interrupted them and spoke quickly, as if to save them.

"That's why Ron, Max, and I went looking for him, Professor. We'd just found him when Harry said…" she trailed off and looked at Harry, who was giving her a look.

"Yes? Ms. Granger?" Snape asked, urging her to continue.

"When I said I wasn't hungry," Harry finished. Snape raised an eyebrow, but Harry swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing. "We were heading back to the Common Room and... found Mrs. Norris," he trailed off. Snape lowered his eyebrow, but the cold glare was still on his face. Even Dumbledore gave him a doubtful look.

"Innocent until proven guilty," he said, directed mostly towards Filch. However, the caretaker didn't seem to accept this.

"My cat has been petrified! I want to see some punishment!" He snarled, his voice shrill. Dumbledore placed a reassuring hand on the squib's shoulder.

"We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrakes. When they have matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. In the meantime, I advise caution. To all," he finished, looking around at the four students as well as the teachers surrounding them. McGonagall nodded.

"The four of you best head back to the common room. There shall be no punishment, but I'd keep myself out of trouble if I were you four," she told them. They nodded and headed towards the grand staircase to head back to the common room.

"A Squib is someone who's born into a wizarding family, but hasn't got any powers of their own. It's why Filch is trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course. It's also why he hates students so much. He's bitter," Ron mumbled. Max shook his head.

"I don't even know why you're thinking about it. Compared to Harry hearing voices and Mrs. Norris getting petrified, I think Filch being a Squib is about as important as what we're having for breakfast tomorrow," Max exclaimed. Hermione stopped walking and turned to look at Harry, startling the three boys.

"Harry. This voice. You said you heard it first in Lockhart's office?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"Yes," he answered, unsure of where she was going with it.

"And did he hear it?" she asked, as if trying to find the answer to a hard puzzle.

"He said he didn't," he recalled. Ron snorted.

"Maybe he was lying," he pointed out.

"I hardly think someone with Gilderoy Lockhart's credentials would lie to one of his students, Ronald. Besides, if you recall, we didn't hear anything either," Hermione reminded him. Max shrugged.

"He's just trying to put that out there. Quirrell was supposed to be a credited teacher as well," he reminded her. Since their first year, he'd gotten a lot closer to the redhead. He still managed to piss Max off, but he was growing on him. And despite his possible feelings for Hermione, he felt like Ron was trying to make a valid point.

"That being true, Lockhart is a worldwide known icon. We barely knew anything about Quirrell, and honestly, he was rather strange," she said, defending her favorite teacher. Harry sighed.

"You do believe me, don't you?" He asked. At first, no one responded to his question.

"'Course we do. It's just... it's a bit weird, isn't it? You hear this voice and then... Mrs. Norris turns up Petrified," Hermione finally answered.

"I can't explain it. It was... scary," he told them. He frowned, remembering the icy chills that went up his spine as the voice rang through his ears. "D'you think I should've told them? Dumbledore and the others, I mean."

"Are you mad?" Ron exclaimed. Max shook his head.

"I think you made the right decision, mate," he said, patting him on the shoulder.

"No, Harry. Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign," Hermione warned.

"She's right you know," A portrait said nearby. Harry rolled his eyes and the group ascended the stairs. Max turned to the portrait.

"No one asked you," he snapped.

* * *

Vanessa gave a heavy sigh as she moved a few bits of egg around on her plate. Saying she was hungry would be a lie; she was much too disturbed by last night. In the back of her mind, she knew she should remember something about the Chamber of Secrets, but she couldn't remember where. She glanced over as Draco opened a bit of his mail, pausing when he read a letter from his father.

"Bloody hell," he muttered. Vanessa raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Draco looked over and his eyes met hers.

"My father is coming to see me play Quidditch," he told her. She shrugged.

"So? I thought you wanted your dad to know you played Quidditch?"

"Yeah, but… I didn't expect him to come." Vanessa rolled her eyes and ate a bit of her breakfast.

"I think you're being a bit ridiculous." Draco placed the letter down on the table and faced her.

"What would you do if your father came to one of your Quidditch matches?" Vanessa raised a red eyebrow.

"I'd ask myself if I was sane. What the hell would I be doing on a broom?" Draco gave a frustrated sigh and turned back to his plate.

"What if I fall? Or worse… what if we lose?" Vanessa turned toward her friend and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. Draco's cheeks heated up, but Vanessa took no notice. He tried to hide it as best as he could. Malfoy men didn't blush.

"Draco, if you don't calm down, I'm going to put a silencing spell on you. Or at least lock you in a closet so I don't have to hear you complain. God… you're like an old woman," she muttered. She let go of his chin and turned back to her breakfast. Draco just stared at her for a moment before turning back to his food.

"Right…" Vanessa noticed he seemed a little distant for a moment before turning and talking to Goyle. She thought it was strange, but shrugged it off and began reading the paper.

"Boys…"

* * *

Max looked up from his book as Professor McGonagall came into the classroom.

"Today, we will be turning animals into water goblets," she announced. Max raised an eyebrow and watched as she preformed the task on the bird in the front of the room. It then turned into a water goblet and the class seemed impressed.

"Awesome…" Max muttered. Hermione smiled and watched as Professor McGonagall walked over to Ron and asked him to demonstrate. He paused before trying it on his rat, who transfigured, but not properly. He grimaced at the sight of the cup with a rat tail and still squeaking.

"That wand needs proper repairing, Mr. Weasley… anyone else?" she looked over and smiled as Hermione raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Granger."

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?" she asked. The class became silent as they all looked at their professor in anticipation.

"My subject is Transfiguration, Miss Granger," she said, with a less than pleased look on her face.

"Yes, Professor. But there seems to be very little written about the Chamber of Secrets. For those of us with a personal interest in the subject, that is... disturbing." Max glanced over at Malfoy, who was sitting with Vanessa. He seemed almost amused at her statement. Next to him, Vanessa regarded the situation with a stoic face, as if she was neither bothered nor pleased by the situation.

"Very well. You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One did not." Ron practically snorted and looked over to Harry.

"Three guesses who?" he asked.

"Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, purebloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school," she paused and looked over her class.

"According to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle, known as the Chamber of Secrets. Shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the Chamber of Secrets and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

"Muggle-borns," Hermione answered. Professor McGonagall nodded and pressed her lips together.

"Naturally, the school has been searched many times for such a chamber. It has never been found." Max furrowed his eyebrows. How could they not find it? How big was this school?

"Professor, what exactly does legend tell us lies within the Chamber?"

"The Chamber is said to be home to something which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control. It is said to be home... to a monster." A chilly silence came upon the room and Ron turned to look at Malfoy, who was simply smiling to himself and sending a cold glare Hermione's way.

* * *

Once class was dismissed, Hermione took off flying towards the exit. Max, Harry, and Ron knew the wheels in her head were going miles a minute and hoped she wasn't going to leave them in the dust.

"Worse comes to worse, we'll meet up with her a dinner. She's probably off to the library to check out some new books," Ron said, trying to get the other two boys to laugh. Harry gave the redhead and half grin while Max continued walking.

"She's got a reason to be nervous. That's what she does when she's nervous, she tries to find new information," he defended. When the reached the corridor outside of McGonagall's classroom, they found Hermione waiting impatiently.

"What're you doing here? We thought you ran off to the library," Ron asked. Hermione hushed them and pulled them to the side, keeping them out of the doorway. A moment passed before Draco left the room, Crabbe and Goyle behind him. Vanessa followed them out with Tracey at her side. She gave the four Gryffindor a strange look, but kept walking. Hermione turned to look at the three boys once they were out of sight.

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione frowned as she lead the boys back to the common room. Max sighed.

"Look, we're all worried about the Chamber of Secrets, but there's a chance it doesn't exist. McGonagall said they searched the school," he said, desperately wanting to believe his head of house.

"D'you think it's true? D'you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked, his voice slightly going up an octave as he thought about the possibility.

"Yes. Couldn't you tell: McGonagall's worried. All the teachers are," she pointed out.

"But if there really is a Chamber of Secrets, and it's really been opened, that means…" Harry trailed off, looking for Hermione to tell him that he was wrong. However, she frowned and nodded.

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned to Hogwarts. The question is, who is it?" she asked, although it was clear in her voice that she had a few hunches. Ron, on the other hand, scoffed.

"Let's think. Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?" he asked, not hiding the sarcasm in his voice.

"Ron," Max warned. Despite his fight with Vanessa, he wanted to make things right with her. And to start it off, they had to lay off the blonde haired Slytherin even if it killed him. If Malfoy really was the Heir of Slytherin, it very well might.

"If you're talking about him-" Hermione trailed off, gesturing to the blonde haired boy who wasn't too far ahead of them.

"Of course! You heard him: 'You'll be next, Mudbloods'!" Ron reminded her. Hermione sighed and nodded.

"I heard him. But Malfoy? The Heir of Slytherin?"

"Maybe Ron's right, Hermione. I mean, look at his family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries," Harry reminded her. Hermione bit her lip.

"I know. That's why I wanted to see Malfoy's face before we left… I thought maybe he would look proud or guilty," she admitted.

"He doesn't do guilty… did he look proud?" Max asked hesitantly. If Draco became a suspect, he couldn't keep any promises to Vanessa. The lives of other students depended on them.

"Of course he did, he always look proud!" Ron exclaimed.

"Sadly, he looked prouder than usual," Hermione agreed. Max frowned.

"How do we figure out for sure?" He asked her. Harry turned to Max.

"Can you ask Vanessa?" He asked, though her named rolled off his tongue like venom. Hermione shook her head, answering for the brunette boy.

"They're still fighting," she said. Max frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets. He didn't like to think about it.

"Thanks for reminding me," he mumbled.

"What about Crabbe and Goyle? They must know. Maybe we could trick them into telling," Ron offered, fighting the urge to hurled an insult about the redheaded Slytherin girl.

"No. Even they aren't that thick. But there might be another way. Mind you, it would be difficult. Not to mention we'd be breaking about fifty school rules. And it would be dangerous. Very dangerous," Hermione warned.

"It seems like your plans usually are," Max commented. Ron just shrugged.

"When do we start?" Hermione smiled and began walking toward the library the boys in tow. When she finally got there she told them to sit in a corner and wait while she found the book.

"You ever get the feeling that we're her lap dogs?" Max asked.

"Well… a little. But she's too bloody brilliant not to listen to," Harry confessed. Max shrugged and watched as she came back into view.

"Here it is: 'The Polyjuice Potion. Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another.'" she read aloud. The boys exchanged looks.

"You mean, Harry, Max, and I drink some of this stuff and we turn into Crabbe and Goyle and… someone else?" Hermione nodded.

"Yes."

"Wow…" Max breathed.

"Wicked! Malfoy'll tell us anything!" Ron said.

"Exactly. But it's tricky. I've never seen a more complicated potion. Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed. And, of course, we'll need a bit of whoever we want to change into too." All the boys scrunched their noses in disgust.

"Hang on now. I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it." Max shot him a look.

"If you two are going to be Crabbe and Goyle, who are Hermione and I going to be?" Max asked.

"I can be one of the girls in Slytherin, shouldn't be too hard," Hermione confessed.

"Fine, what about me?" Max asked. Everyone paused before Harry spoke.

"You could always be Vanessa…" he suggested. Max paused before looking completely disgusted.

"Eww, seriously? No. Eww," Max snapped. Hermione shot him a look.

"Max, we might need you to be Vanessa. You know her the best and it'll be the easiest for you to imitate her. Face it, Vanessa might be the best choice out there. Not to mention she's close with the girls and it'll give me an excuse to be around since she's also close to Draco. It's perfect," Harry pointed out.

"Face it mate, you're stuck being her," Ron said. Max sighed and shook his head.

"How am I supposed to get something from her?"

"We don't have to worry about it now. It will take a while to brew," Hermione assured him.

"How long will it take to make?" Harry asked.

"A month," Hermione answered.

"A month? But if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin, he could attack half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!" Hermione sighed and frowned.

"I know… but it's the only plan we've got," she confessed. Max sighed, but nodded.

"Well… let's get this started then."

* * *

_**Jeck: **__I think I smell pot outside my window… :/**  
Raxsah:**__ I hate when people smoke pot and don't share. It's so rude.**  
Jeck: **__Dude… I'm on the 6__th__ floor… that's a lot of pot for me to be smelling it. Like for reals.**  
Raxsah:**__ Psh… college people. They are crazy. Anyway, I think we might have had reviews. Maybe?**  
Jeck: **__Like 4 reviews, I believe. And not all of them were awesome like SWfangirl21. Or the girl who lives down the hall from me. I feel like we've got some work to attend to here…**  
Raxsah: **__Let's get started._

_**singe violet  
Raxsah: **__I like giggling… giggling is fun. Yes, the triangle thing is a bit awkward, hopefully it will get better. We're only on year two. A lot of things are awkward now. I like Ron… but it's hard to save him sometimes… I'm trying, believe me. Holy Crap the Superbowl… how long was that? Too long.**  
Jeck: **__Well here you have it. After torturing you with it, I finally have something to show for it. I mean, we are like in the middle of writing the 4__th__ year right now, but whateves. You know how I roll… though, I'm surprised you haven't broken into my room and stolen my laptop. I hope this'll hold you over for awhile. Doesn't mean I won't stop tormenting you with it. :D_

_**alicemaybrandonjones  
Jeck: **__We don't write by chapter and we're not going by the book. We're using scripts from the movies to get our dialogue from, so any discrepancies come from that. I'm sorry you're a busy person, but these our ideal lengths for us. We write long chapters. If we posted by year… well, it'd be even longer. So I do apologize, but that's how it goes.**  
Raxsah: **__Hmm, I find your review slightly off putting. Especially since you didn't bother to review the second chapter. The chapters are a bit long, but as a reader, that is something I do not mind. Honestly, I'm not one for short chapters, however we have shortened it a bit due to your request. I also believe we stated we were quoting the movie. We, as busy people, do not have time to go by the books. The movies are easier to quote and allow a bit more freedom than the book. I know it is difficult, but if you read our rants I believe we state things like that. I apologize for any confusion. Glad you like Vanessa though. Wait till she gets older._

_**DeputyDarkscar  
Raxsah:**__ I agree, we made Harry slight OC. Hopefully we've fixed him a bit. We're not perfect. And we're definitely not JK. We might get a few characters wrong. I'd say Vanessa is… complicated. She is a bit like Hermione, due to the bookworm thing, but I think she slowly begins to emerge into her own character. Max is similar to Harry, though I have yet to see any Draco in him. He'll slowly become his own character in time as well. We give away no romance secrets. You'll just have to wait.**  
Jeck: **__I suppose you're right, Harry is slightly OOC, but Vanessa really isn't that nice of a person. Like… not at all. So it's safe for him to assume things when he firsts meets her. We're honestly not really basing Max and Vanessa off anyone, they're completely different characters, but I suppose they do share some characteristics. And your Inner Eye might be onto something there… :D_

_**SWfangirl21  
Jeck: **__I'll have you know that I got into a creepy white van last night… AND THERE WASN'T ANY CANDY. The guy gave me a ride back to my dorm though. Still… I wish there had been some candy or rape or something. Ripped off, man. Trust me, as time goes on, you may find yourself falling for Max and Vanessa. It's hard not to… we love them! Then again… we created them… or did they create themselves? QUESTIONS TO PONDER! We just started hitting more of the inappropriateness in the 4__th__ year because we didn't want to start them off too early, ya know? But yeah… it'll be good. MAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Well, the first year starts it off. Honestly, I really enjoy our version of the second year and our version of the fourth year a lot right now. I hope you will as well. I never was a fan of the third year… even if ours did do a nice job, if I might say. BUT NO ONE ELSE KNOWS YET! Ron has to fight for his woman now… let's see what happens! We try to give Draco some depth in our story. We're big fans of his too. :D MAN, I HOPE YOU ENJOY YEAR TWO! It'll probably be like three parts. Never seen True Grit. We actually went to see the midnight premiere of Pirates 4... HOLY SHIT IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME! OH MAN! Raxsah now outranks me at work… she's like almost my boss. :| Interesting, if I do say so myself. I FUCKIN' LOVE POTTER PUPPET PALS! Do you is like Harry Potter Musical? FUCK YEAH MAN! Hmmm… ummm… Zombie Orgy Sexy Rave Party, yo? Yes… yes, I think so.**  
Raxsah: **__We are pretty awesome, aren't we? And don't worry, nothing you say will sound creepier than some of the things we've said ourselves. Pedophiles are a common topic. Scarily enough. Claire/Ryan are a big favorite, but I'm slowly falling in love with Vanessa/Max. Then again we're also writing them as young adults now so… I guess it's an unfair advantage. First year is slow. Second year is not as slow… third year is in the middle, then it gets fun. Ron is mean, but I love him. Jeck thinks I'm crazy, but I do. Draco is so angst and misunderstood. I love him. Snape is just epic. I like writing him. Don't mention snakes around Jeck… it's her boggart! Ending was simple, I think that's why it tied it together. Hmm… saw the trailer for POTC4 and saw the movie. Not bad, but not fantastic. The first shall always rule. Wow… has it been that long since we've posted. Job is good, got promoted, now a manager, got a boyfriend, got dumped by boyfriend, now laugh at boyfriend for dating a sixteen year old, and am trying not to pull my hair out at some of our new people. But I like it well enough. I like that it pays. Hope you're doing well. Sorry we're so late. We missed you. Hope all is well._

_**Jeck: **__Wow… that was like intense. It feels good to jump back into this. I would apologize for how long it's taken us… but I won't. Why? Cause I don't give a fuck. It's how I roll. Come on now, people, you should know this about me! I'm just a nineteen year old get shits and giggles from Harry freakin' Potter, yo!**  
Raxsah:**__ Not only that, but life gets crazy. Especially after high school. As some of you might now, it's kinda hard to really keep things steady at first. We're working on it though. Before you know it you might be caught up… doubt it, but you can hope.**  
Jeck: **__Who knows, man, who knows. All I know is I went from Dean's List to Academic Probation in my first year of college. I had my gallbladder out and went to the Looney Bin. It's been rough. Our world kept moving, we kept on writing, but the posting it just never happened.**  
Raxsah:**__ Hopefully we can fix this. We might have to find a new day to post. Once we figure it out, we'll let you know.**  
Jeck: **__We haven't forgotten about you guys. It's just… shit gets real, yo.**  
Raxsah: **__Word hommie. I suppose we should sign off. Much more to do, much more to write. We are starting the Yule ball after all.**  
Jeck: **__Holy basket of monkeys! HOT DOG! IT'S ON! :D SUPER NINJA AWESOME RAVE PARTYS! _


End file.
